Lobsters Pepper Breakers, Win 7-1 (2/1)

ATHENS, GA - There’s nothing like a Sunday Matinee in the FPHL, and the Breakers were looking to pull off the improbable upset, closing out a 3 games in 3 days stretch in their final meeting with the Athens Rock Lobsters. Fueled by 73 shots on goal, Athens decisively cruised to a 7-1 victory to complete the 2-game season series sweep against Biloxi. 

Athens came out the gate hot in period 1. Although it was even strength, Athens had a powerplay-like tempo, dominating zone time and racking up the shots on Anton Borodkin early. It took just 3:06 for Garrett Milan to locate a rebound and open the scoring at 1-0. A few minutes later, AJ Schlepp squared off with Kyle Powell in a heavyweight tilt, ending all too quickly with AJ Schlepp connecting with a right to an off-balance Kyle Pow. As soon as they were released from the box, they dropped the gloves and went again, with Pow earning a decisive win before the two enforcers’ nights would end. At 15:55, Athens struck again, with Malik Johnson spearing home a vacant puck outside the crease to make it 2-0. Athens outshot Biloxi 28-9 in the opening frame. 

Period 2 the Breakers came out with a charge, looking to climb back into a close contest. After an early Athens delay of game call, Kyle Heitzner potted a rebound on the powerplay at 3:54 to make it 1-0. The two teams continued to go from end to end, and Athens clearly didn’t care for how close the score was. At 8:59, new addition Eli Lieffers fired a shot through traffic under the glove of Borodkin to restore the lead to 2. With the barn buzzing, it took just 7 seconds for Daniil Glukharev to one-time a cross crease feed into the net to make it 4-1. The scoring would come to a halt there in the frame, but still disaster would be in store for Biloxi. Goaltender Anton Borodkin, who had an exceptional evening, was forced to leave the game with an injury after making 45 saves to this point. Rahul Sharma entered for the last minute or so ahead of the intermission. Athens led 4-1 through 40 minutes, outshooting Biloxi 51-23. 

Period 3 was another dominant frame for Athens. At 5:27, Dustin Perillat sniped a rocket past Rahul Sharma over the shoulder to make it 5-1. 57 seconds later, it was Perillat again, this time redirecting a Joe Mack pass over the pad of Sharma from in tight to make it 6-1. And then finally, to close out all the scoring was Carter Shinkaruk, fluttering a puck over the shoulder of Sharma off a deflection to make it 7-1. Athens outshot Biloxi 73 - 31, the most shots against the Breakers this season.

Athens improves to 28-6-0, and will be off next weekend with a bye. Biloxi falls to 6-27-1, and will return home to host a pair of contests next Friday (Columbus) and Saturday (Baton Rouge) at the Coast Coliseum.