Armed Forces Ice Palace, Boston, MA:
The Samurai pulled out a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Militia on Saturday night in a back-and-forth offensive battle between the two clubs.
The scoring opened just 8 seconds into the second period as Terrence Mazzei tallied for the Samurai, assisted by Benito Mathers and Brady Europe. However, the Militia answered back with just 28 seconds left in the frame when Cortney OClerkin scored from Ed Zandbeek and Nicolas Milliner.
In the third, the Samurai grabbed control. Leimo Ali put them ahead 6:18 into the period, set up by Nevin Callaghan and Jerri Narmala. Then with just 49 seconds remaining, Kenneth Pehrson scored an empty-netter to seal the 3-1 win. Sterling Capelle and Per-Axel Ekengren had the assists on the insurance marker.
While the shots were 35-30 in favor of the Militia, Samurai netminder Marten Shamblin was outstanding, turning aside 34 of 35 shots fired his way for a .971 save percentage. Andrew Wiewel made 27 saves on 29 shots in the Militia crease.
The two teams combined for 6 minor penalties on the night in the physically contested affair. Pyotr Pakholkov left the game for the Militia in the first period with a left leg injury.
Shamblin, Pehrson and Mazzei were the three stars in the intense regular season matchup before a crowd of 13,983 fans at the Armed Forces Ice Palace. The win improves the Samurai's record while the Militia suffers just their third regulation time home loss.