Outliers Sweep Valencia, Weekend Recap

by Website Admin

The Utah Outliers took to the ice this past weekend, welcoming the Valencia Flyers. Coming into the weekend, Utah was experiencing some strong momentum, having won six straight games. 

The weekend played out as expected, with the Outliers dominating Valencia throughout the series, outscoring their opponents 31-1. For the home team, it was a tremendous result and showed the teams relentless play as they continue to build momentum as they head into a bye weekend. 

For game one, Utah came out firing. The home team poured on an offensive onslaught, scoring five times in the first period. That same story would hold up for the rest of the night as the Outliers netted five more goals in the second period and added three more in the third to cruise to a 13-0 victory to give the flyers their worst defeat of the season. Oskar Wahlgren was rock solid between the pipes recording the shutout for the winning team.

A hat-trick by Nikita Andrusenko (3G-2A) and a shutout by Oscar Wahlgren pulled Utah through the stretch. Twelve Outliers registered points including Andrei Shmakov (2G-3A), and Ethan Knutsen (2G-2A). 

Saturday saw the Outliers start a little slow and although they generated some solid chances they were not nearly as productive offensively as they were the night before. Some strong goaltending by the Flyers netminder and some missed chances by the home team saw the first-period end with the Outliers up by a score of 2-0. 

The second period showed a stronger push by the Outliers as they generated some solid offensive plays but consistently failed to convert. Eventually, the team broke down the Flyers defense and added two more goals for a 4-0 lead going into the final period. The team added another four goals in the third period and extended its lead for an 8-0 victory. 

The Outliers worked a shutout victory for the second time in as many nights against the Valencia Flyers. Oscar Wahlgren backstopped the Outliers to a clean sheet, earning his fourth consecutive shutout. Jett Arminen (2G) scored twice among six other goal scorers.

The offensive onslaught continued on Sunday as the Outliers kept pouring on the offense and winning the final game of the weekend by a score of 9-1. Although Valencia scored the first goal of the game in the first period (and its only goal all weekend) the Outliers responded within 18 seconds to tie the game. The tempo for Utah picked up as the game went along, and the group never looked back. It was 3-1 in favor of Utah after the first period and 5-1 after the second period. The Outliers dominated the third period by adding another four goals. 

Dawson Armstrong (2G-2A) scored four points and Andrei Shmakov (2G) scored twice to lead Utah offensively. Goaltender Micah Hershey played another solid game for his team making many big saves when called upon. 

The Outliers will be back in action November 22-24 as they host the Southern Oregon Spartans at the Acord Ice Center