To the 9's: Ice Raiders Roll 9-0 and 9-2 Over Kings

Dec 16, 20245 min read

Updated: Dec 31, 2024

By Phillip Goodman

Dec. 17, 2024

Relentless forechecking, aggressive defensive, and timely saves propelled the Reno Ice Raiders to 9-0 and 9-2 wins over the Sin City Kings in the series presented by Sierra Sid's Casino. Reno's record this season is now 6-2 and the home undefeated streak extended to 12 with another series win. Since first meeting Sin City in February of 2023, the Ice Raiders are 10-0 against the Kings and have outscored Sin City 87-21 including two shutouts.

With the opener still scoreless late in the first period, Ice Raiders' netminder Justis Gyori stopped a Sin City breakaway for the Maxwell's Barber Shop Close Shave Save of the Game. It would be the toughest test Gyori would face all night.

On their 15th shot of the first period, the Ice Raiders finally broke through Sin City's goalie Vinny Sorgentoni. Jake Minton rifled a pass to the Marine Will McDonnell and he potted his first as an Ice Raider for the 1-0 lead. Early in the second, Jake "Minty Fresh" Minton corralled a loose puck on the doorstep with Sorgentoni out of position to put Reno up 2-0. Garrity and McDonnell had the helpers.

Sin City kept the game as tight as they could as long as they could through the first half of the game. However, Sorgentoni confessed after the game that the elevation and onslaught started to get to him in the second period.

While on the second Peterson Wealth Management Penalty Kill of the night, Julian Herrera and Morgan Ellis each had quality looks but Sorgentoni made the saves. Late in the PK, Nathan Hogge zipped a pass to Matt Robinson for the Goettl Air Assist of the Weekend as Robinson fired in the shorty for the 3-0 lead. Raiders' ironman Jeff Jiron also earned an assist on the play.

Reno scored five times on 26 shots in the second and three times on 18 tries in the third:

McDonnell's second comes on a Johnny Garrity rebound, 4-0; add an assist to Tony Tyrell
Vegas' timeout benefits Reno - Hunter Sine squeezes the puck through the post and goalie skate, from Ellis O'Dowd and Robinson, 5-0
Roger "The Enforcer" Hutchison nets another shorthander with an incredible individual effort, 6-0
Fagergren lays the puck on a tee for Andrew Peterson to drive home, 7-0
Reno Ice youth hockey coach Adrian Nicholas shows the hands and skill for his first career Ice Raiders' goal, 8-0; Hutchison and Ramzy Anderson collect assists
Send in the hats for Will McDonnell! 9-0, Ellis with another assist

Justis Gyori stopped eight shots in the first two periods and Raiders' rookie Zach Kellerup denied six in the third for the combined shutout.

On the heels of a strong opening shift by Hutchison-Fagergren-Montgomery, Morgan Ellis put Reno on the board early on Saturday night after Nicholas' blocked shot deflected to Ellis and Ellis roofed it over Sorgentoni.

Reno's third shift kept the pedal down, this time it was Julian Herrera perfectly redirecting Jeff Jiron's pass past Sorgentoni for the 2-0 lead. Hunter Sine also earned an assist.

Sin City's Ryan Mulcahy capitalized on a rare defensive zone turnover by Reno, tucking a shot tweeners on a screened Justin Sand to break Reno's 66-minute streak of shutout hockey. On the next shift, Hunter Sine atoned for the error by dangling through the defense and sniping over Sorgentoni for the 3-1 score.

Still in the first period, Julian Herrera won an offensive zone draw to Fagergren who put a nifty backhand past Sorgentoni for the 4-1 lead. With still seven minutes left in the period, Matt Robinson pounded home a Jeff Jiron rebound for the 5-1 lead.

Reno added two in the second and two in the third:

Will McDonnell scores on the Brewer's Cabinet Power Play, Minty Fresh & Ellis push the lead to 6-1
Charlie Montgomery's wrister 11 seconds later makes 7-1; Jeff Jiron with outlet pass
Monty's second of the night makes it 8-2 Reno; Hutch & Zeph with the helpers
Minty's unassisted shorthanded goal caps the 9-2 victory for the Ice Raiders

Friday's contest was relatively clean as the teams combined for only 26 minutes of penalties. While Reno was 0-for-2 on their Brewer's Cabinet Power Play they were 4-for-4 on Peterson Wealth Management Penalty Kills including two shorthanded goals. Saturday was even cleaner--only 10 combined PIMs with no fights. Reno killed both Peterson Wealth Management Penalty Kills and scored on their only Brewer's Cabinet Power Play.

On Friday Reno won 38 of the 66 faceoffs and 42 of 69 on Saturday. Sorgentoni was beyond busy in net both nights as Reno bombarded him with 119 shots over the weekend. Sand stopped 28 of 30 Sin City shots for Saturday's win.

The Ice Raiders will have their hands full next weekend with the tougher Santa Rosa Growlers, yet Ice Raiders Head Coach Tim Tookey liked his squad's effort in preparation for their upcoming road series.

"We won a lot of faceoffs this weekend that made it possible to have puck possession for most of the games," Tookey said. "There were very few turnovers in our own end. We back-checked very well as a team. We need to limit our mistakes, keep our composure, and hit the net with our opportunities."

After the Santa Rosa weekend, the Ice Raiders will be off for the Christmas weekend then will welcome the Fire Dept. of New York to usher in 2025. On behalf of all the Ice Raiders players and staff, we wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!

High Sierra Restorative Health Injury Update

Johnny Garrity did not play the second half of Friday's game after suffering a fractured pinky finger. On the follow-through of a shot, Garrity's left hand met the stick of a Kings' defender and Garrity went right to the bench just as Will McDonnell was scoring his second goal.

Kray Lewis is one lucky hockey player. A freakish collision at center ice forced Mulchahy's stick into Lewis' face, sending Lewis' half shield flying in pieces into his face and across the ice. Fortunately Lewis needed only a couple stitches across his nose and forehead and he will not need to visit Dr. Friedlander at Nevada Retina Associates for any further evaluation.

Friday's LT Automotive Three Stars of the Game