GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport D1 hockey team started their three game week against Buffalo at the Patterson Ice Center on Thursday night. The Panthers had a strong offensive attack as they scored nine goals in the game, eight of which came in the first and third periods. Davenport moves to 13-9-1-4 on the season with the 9-2 win over Buffalo, and will be back in action Friday night as they continue the Good Luck DUck series against Oakland with an 8:30 p.m. puck drop at Patterson Ice Center.
 
Davenport started strong right out of the gate to start the first period as Andrew Frank got the first goal of the game for the Panthers just 35 second into the game. The Panthers continued to roll as they tallied another goal just Flood later to increase their lead to two goals. Luke McCarthy was able to score on a 5-on-3 man advantage off deflection from Cody Walsh's shot from the point to give DU a 3-0 in the first half of the period. The Panthers continued to put pressure on the Bulls net minder, but Davenport took a 3-0 lead after the first period.
 
The Panthers started the second period fast once again as Matt Ogden was able to grab a loose puck in the slot while shorthanded to give Davenport a 4-0 lead with 15:45 left in the second period. The Bulls finally got on the board with 12:10 left in the period to cut the Panthers lead to 4-1. DU was able to kill off a late Buffalo power play as Clayton Brown and the Davenport defense, but the Bulls had another power play chance with less than a minute left in the period as they capitalized with 19 seconds left in the period to make it a 4-2 game heading into the third period.
 
The physicality continued in the third, but Walsh regained the three goal for the Panthers with 10:32 left in the period on blast from the point off a feed from Mike Gessler. Luke McCarthy was able to give the Panthers a 6-2 lead with 8:47 left in regulation on power play goal the ricocheted in off a shot from the goal line, and less than minute later Mason Bohlinger found the back of the net as DU took a 7-2 lead. The Panthers would not let off the gas pedal as Winston Hofer and Chris Eckler rounded out the scoring for the Panthers en route a 9-2 win over the Bulls.
 
After the game head coach Phil Sweeney talked about his team's performance, "It has been the best we played in a while, and I had a feeling we were about to breakout, because we have been playing great hockey for a long time. We had a great week of practice this week and we were able to pour it on them."
 
The Panthers will re-open the Good Luck DUck series on Friday night against Oakland with the series tied at one game apiece. Puck drop is slated for 8:30 p.m. at Patterson Ice Center.
 
Post-Game Notes
With a goal and an assist in the game, Mason Bohlinger surpassed Phil Wendecker for the all-time leading scorer in the D1 hockey program history with 144 points… Bohlinger is just three goals behind Wendecker in goals to lead the program… Davenport out shot Buffalo 46-28 in the game and this is the third straight game the Panthers have out shot their opponents.
 
DI Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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