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Weekend Wrap: TBJ Wins Five of Eight at Florida Showcase

12/22/2020, 3:30pm EST
By Tyler Davey

Friday

Elite: TBJ 5, Carolina 1

The Tampa Bay Juniors Elite team kicked off the Florida Showcase with a 5-1 win over the Carolina Jr Hurricanes. Carolina got the scoring started 10:17 into regulation. Jake Duhaime’s power play goal at 7:58 of the second, tied the game at one right before the intermission. TBJ’s offense exploded in the third period. Jake Duhaime gave the Juniors their first lead at 9:17 of the third. Zach Hendle and Justin Walker provided insurance goals for Tampa who pushed the lead to 4-1. Jake Duhaime finished off his hat-trick to solidify the 5-1 win. Evan Spinella made 21 saves in the win. The win improved Tampa to 17-1-0 on the season.

 

Premier: TBJ 4, Carolina 3

The Tampa Bay Juniors Premier team came from behind to beat the Carolina Jr Hurricanes 4-3. Carolina took the lead with 9:28 into the first. The Hurricanes built their lead to two with a goal at 14:32 of the first. Tampa got a goal back through Connor Reed’s sixth of the season. The power play tally cut the deficit in half going into intermission. Stanley Lucas tied the game at two, 4:04 into the third. Colton Sipperley gave Tampa the lead just 48 seconds later. Aaron Frenkel gave TBJ some crucial insurance with 46 seconds remaining. Tampa’s two-goal lead was short lived with Carolina getting a goal back with 18 seconds left. The comeback attempt ran out of time for Carolina as Tampa saw out the win. Cade Kujawski stopped 22 shots to help Tampa on their way to a 13-5-0 record.

 

Saturday

Premier: TBJ 4, Potomac 3 (OT)

The Tampa Bay Juniors pushed their win streak to four games with a 4-3 overtime win against the Potomac Patriots. The Juniors got off to a quick start with goals from Jon Heller and Stanley Lucas. Potomac did not go away without a fight. Potomac got both goals back before the intermission. Potomac completed the comeback in the second half, taking a 3-2 lead. With 2:34 left in the game, Zach Puterbaugh knotted the game up at three. Just 1:04 into overtime, Adam Zimmermann tapped home his third goal of the season to secure the win. Zimmermann was the beneficiary for a great setup from Jon Heller and Colton Sipperley. Matthew Garneau made 18 saves in his first appearance for Tampa Bay.

 

Elite: Potomac 5, TBJ 4

The Tampa Bay Elite team dropped their second game of the season with a shocking 5-4 loss to the Potomac Patriots. Potomac broke the ice 7:58 into regulation. Tampa quickly tied up the game with Ryan Bahula’s 22nd goal of the season. TBJ took their first lead of the game with a goal from Jordan Campo in the second period. The Patriots had a timely response to level the game at two going into intermission. Potomac snatched the lead back at 16:59 of the second. Ryan Bahula scored his second of the game to tied the game up again. In the back and forth third period, Potomac scored the next goal to regain a 4-3 lead. Ryan Bahula completed his hat-trick with his league-leading 24th goal of the year. Bahula’s hat-trick proved to not be enough. Potomac scored the winner with 8:25 left in the game. The win was just the second of the season for the Patriots. Jacob Weaver made 21 stops in the loss.

 

Sunday

Premier: Charlotte 3, TBJ 2

The Tampa Bay Juniors dropped their first game of the showcase with a 3-2 loss to the Charlotte Rush. Tampa scored their only two goals in the first period. Max Barrington opened the scoring with his third of the season. Roco Selivanov was next up for Tampa, scoring his fifth of the year. In a low-scoring affair, Charlotte got a goal back right before intermission. In the third period, the only scoring belonged to Charlotte. They scored the game-tying goal at 5:20 of the third, before taking the lead at 13:02. TBJ’s 2-0 lead was erased and they didn’t have an answer. Tampa was outshot 38-21 in the loss. Cade Kujawski made 35 saves.

 

Elite: Charlotte 6, TBJ 4

The Tampa Bay Juniors Elite lost a heartbreaker to the Charlotte Rush by a score of 6-4. The Rush opened the scoring 6:22 into the game. In a game of heavy momentum swings, Tampa tied the game 1-1 at 9:07 from Tim Ruf on the power play. The Juniors went on to build their lead with three more unanswered goals. Filip Kuba, Nevada Woodring, and Jack Fleer all scored as Tampa grew their lead to 4-1. After a too many men on the ice call on TBJ, the game completely turned around. The Rush scored two goals just 21 seconds apart at the end of the second period. With the deficit trimmed to one, Charlotte tied the game at 7:17 of the third. Charlotte took their first lead since the first period, scoring at 11:40. An empty net goal with 20 seconds left put the exclamation point on the comeback for Charlotte. For the first time all season, the Juniors had lost back-to-back games.

 

Premier: TBJ 3, Hampton Roads 1

The Tampa Bay Juniors Premier finished the showcase 3-1-0 with a 3-1 win over the Hampton Roads Whalers. The two teams played a tight and scoreless first period. Laz Kaebel finally opened the scoring 7:29 into the second with his sixth goal of the season. TBJ doubled their lead late into the second with Mateusz Wawrzkiewicz’s first goal of the year. Hampton Roads made things interesting with a goal at 10:31 of the third. After cutting the deficit to one, Hampton upped the offensive pressure. Connor Reed helped Tampa exhale with a goal at the 19:53 mark. Lane Skon was the number one star for the Juniors, stopped 34 of 35 shots faced. The Juniors improved to 15-6-0 after the impressive defensive win.

 

Elite: TBJ 3, Hampton Roads 2 (OT)

After losing a tough game to Charlotte, Tampa responded in a big way with a 3-2 overtime win against the Hampton Roads Whalers. Hampton came out flying in the first period. They scored the only two goals of the period and held a 2-0 lead. In the blink of an eye in the second period, Tampa evened the game up at two. Pranay Prasanna and Ronan Keenan both scored their first goals of the season just 42 seconds apart. In the third period, Evan Spinella kept Tampa in the game. The Whalers outshot the Juniors 13-6 in the period, but Spinella’s play brought the game to overtime. In the sudden death period, Ryan Bahula found a cutting Filip Kuba who made no mistake. The defenseman’s sixth goal of the season finished the comeback. The Juniors snapped their two game losing skid and improved to 18-3-0. Tampa went 2-2-0 at Hertz Arena.

Photo by USPHL

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