Friday Five: Gahagen Gives Norfolk The Royal Treatment; Wheeling Nails It Down In Overtime

Shutouts and shootouts were just part of the excitement Friday in the ECHL. Let’s dive right in to this week’s top Friday Five performances.

Parker Gahagen: Reading Royals

Gahagen put on a masterful performance in net against one of the ECHL’s top teams. He stopped 25 of 26 shots in regulation and overtime, then saved nine more in an 11-round shootout to preserve a 2-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals.

After Norfolk grabbed the early lead, Ryan Leibold evened things up at 1-1 1:27 into the third period. It remained that way through the remainder of the frame and overtime.

In the skills competition, the Admirals’ German Yavash and Andrei Bakanov scored in rounds five and nine, respectively. Reading answered in the bottom of rounds five and nine, while Gahagen made a save in the top of the 11th round.

That set up an opportunity for Shane Sellar, who sealed the shootout win with a wrister past Norfolk goalie Thomas Milic.

It was the Royals’ third shootout victory in four occasions this season. Reading has won three of their last four games and have earned a point in 11 of their last 12 (9-1-2-0).

Carson Gicewicz: Florida Everblades

After trailing 2-0, the defending Kelly Cup champions scored three unanswered goals to snatch a 3-2 victory over the Savannah Ghost Pirates on the road. Gicewicz potted two goals to help the cause.

Gicewicz’s team-leading 26th goal of the season at the 5:47 mark of the opening period cut Florida’s deficit to 2-1. The goal extended Gicewicz’s point streak to eight games, the longest by a Blade this season.

After Alex Kile evened the score at the 2:37 mark of the middle frame, Gicewicz tallied the eventual game-winner on a power-play chance at 15:50 of the second. Gicewicz deflected a Kile shot into the net for the 3-2 win.

The Everblades’ defense and goaltending did the rest. They held Savannah without a shot on goal in the second period and outshot them 22-3 over the final 40 minutes.

Cam Johnson (33-4-3-1) was a winner for the sixth straight game, recording 11 saves en route to his league-leading 33rd victory of the season, which matches his uniform number.

Ben Kraws: Idaho Steelheads

Good luck getting a shot past Kraws lately. The Idaho goalie recorded his second consecutive shutout and fourth of the season in a 1-0 home triumph over the Allen Americans. Luke Richardson made 37 saves in the loss.

Kaleb Pearson scored the lone goal on the night on the power-play 18 seconds into the second period from Parker Berge and Matt Register.

From behind the Idaho blue line, Register bumped the puck back to Berge, who took it behind the cage. Pearson raced into the offensive zone. From inside the right circle he sent a wrist shot into the top left corner.

Along with pitching back-to-back shutouts, Kraws has three in his last six games. He has started 11 of Idaho’s last 12 games dating back to Feb. 21.

Wheeling Nailers

Jordan Martel was the hero of the night for the Nailers, potting a goal in overtime to secure a 3-2 win over the Toledo Walleye.

The two teams exchanged goals in the opening three minutes. Toledo was first on the board at the 57-second mark, but Wheeling responded 2:38 later. Isaac Belliveau attempted to stuff a wraparound inside the right post, but the puck got booted out to Cole Tymkin, who ripped a wrist shot into the left side of the cage.

The Nailers had a goal disallowed, but scored over a minute later on a tally from Gabe Klassen, who batted in a feed from Matty De St. Phalle in the slot.

The score remained 2-1 through the second period. The Walleye also had a goal waved off in the early stages of the third, but found a way to pull even with 9:42 left during 4-on-4 action.

The Walleye received a pair of power plays, but Wheeling's penalty-kill was up to the task, setting the stage for Martel’s overtime winner. He crossed through the left circle toward the slot, and launched a wrist shot into the top-right corner of the twine to give the Nailers the 3-2 win.

Tristan Thompson: Maine Mariners

The Maine defenseman collected four assists in a 5-3 win over the Worcester Railers.

His first came in the opening period at 6:46, the only one between both teams in the frame. Lynden McCallum took a feed from Thompson and drove down the slot, beating Railers goaltender Hugo Ollas with a stick-side wrister.

Each team scored a pair in the second period. After Worcester took a 2-1 lead, Maine's power play struck back at 11:37 of the middle frame. Mariners captain Wyllum Deveaux deflected Thompson's shot just over the goal line behind Ollas.

Just 90 seconds later, Brooklyn Kalmikov put the Mariners back in front, when his wrister from the right circle beat Ollas' glove. Thompson assisted on the play, giving him a helper on all three Mariners goals through 40 minutes as they carried a 3-2 lead into the third..

After adding an insurance goal from Jacob Hudson, Christian Sarlo potted another with help from Thompson, giving him four assists on the night.

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