Box Score | Sweeney Post-Game Interview
TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 13 Davenport snapped a four game losing streak Friday night with a 2-1 win over No . 19 Arizona. Ben Dykstra had a power play goal in the first and Phil Wendecker added a goal in the second period to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead heading into the final period. In the third, Davenport held off a early goal by Arizona for the win.
For both Davenport goals, Dykstra and Wendecker both fired the puck over the Arizona goalie's shoulder and into the top corner of the net for the goal. Bo Jacobs and Taylor Keyworth picked up assists on the Dykstra goal while Keyworth and Norm Farr were credited with assists on Wendecker's goal.
Davenport goalie Phil Graveline had his second consecutive game allowing only one goal. Graveline made 32 saves on 33 Wildcat shots for the win. Arizona scored 11 seconds into the third period to break up Graveline's shutout.
The Panthers didn't make it easy on themselves in the third period. Following the Arizona goal to start the third period, Davenport successfully killed six minutes of Wildcat power play minutes over the last 13:23 to secure the win. Included in this time was a four-minutes double minor that the Panthers successfully killed midway through the third. Davenport held Arizona to 0 for 9 on the power play.
The Panthers were 1 for 5 on the power play and had 20 shots.
Davenport improves to 15-14 on the season. The Panthers and Wildcats will be in action again tomorrow night at 9:30 PM EST. This will be Davenport's fourth game in five days and fifth game in the last eight days.
Post-Game Quotes – Head Coach Phil Sweeney
On penalty kill in third period – “You hate using that in the third period, but we had a four minute kill and the guys blocked shots. We've worked hard on the penalty kill and we've had a lot of chances to work on it, which isn't always the best thing. But the guys stepped up, blocked a lot of shots, got in the shooting lanes, and you have to have a goalie making the saves too. That's what won us the game.”
On any fatigue the team may have for tomorrow's game – “Everyone's going to have to play a big game tomorrow. The blue line, who hasn't got a ton of shifts lately, they're going to have to have a big game. Some of the guys who don't really play a lot of power plays or penalty kills, they haven't seen these types of minutes. We have several guys who have logged tons of minutes, so the other guys are going to have to step up tomorrow.”
Post-Game Notes
This was the first meeting between Davenport and Arizona…This was the third time this season that Davenport has allowed one goal or fewer…Davenport improves to 7-3 on the road.
