Things started out just fine for the Devils, who actually jumped out in front of this one on a Stephen Wood powerplay goal at 10:28 of the second period. All was well for the rest of the period, but in the third was when Fitzpatrick took the game over.
Penalties again plagued the Devils as all but one of Fitzpatrick's markers came on the powerplay. In addition, Yannick Tifu assisted on all five Fitzpatrick goals, the first coming at the fifty-two second mark when he backhanded the puck past Devils' netminder Jason Smith. Fitzpatrick would take the lead at the 2:58 mark with his only even-strength goal of the tilt, with Tifu and Matt Beaudoin, who had three assists of his own with the helpers.
Fitzpatrick's final three goals would come during a 2:33 stretch during the final five minutes of the contest. He would tally his third goal at 15:03 on a two-man advantage when Tifu found him all alone between the circles with a puck that Fitzpatrick fired through the five hole of Smith. 1:17 later, on the same powerplay, Fitzpatrick fired a slapshot near-post that found its way in. His final tally of the night woud come at 17:34 when he tipped in a Greg Labenski slapshot past the right leg of Smith.
For Fitzpatrick, the five goals in one period is an ECHL record. He also tied the record for most powerplay goals in a game, which was set by Matt Oates of the Columbus Chill in 1996. He also tied a franchise record for most goals in a game, a record he now holds with Jamie Ling.
Rejean Beauchemin (1-1) picked up the win for the Bombers, with 27 saves on 28 shots, while Jason Smith (1-5) was saddled with the loss for Trenton, saving only 21 of 26 shots. The Devils will return to the hopefully friendly confines of Sovereign Bank Arena on Thursday to battle the Bakersfield Condors.
My Three Stars:
1) Chanse Fitzpatrick (DAY) - 5 Goals.
2) Yannick Tifu (DAY) - 5 Assists.
3) Matt Beaudoin (DAY) - 3 Assists.
~Titans Fan 25~
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