Express Keep Distance From Dallas

DALLAS SNIPERS (7-23-0, 14 pts)

@DallasSnipers

The Dallas Snipers came up short in all three games to Springfield over the weekend with Friday’s contest being the closest of the three. Eric Eaton scored his 13th goal of the season to open the series with a Dallas lead. It was short-lived however, after the Express scored four unanswered goals.

But alas, the Snipers weren’t done yet as Danil Trenikhin scored two goals in 30 seconds to claw Dallas back into the game. Those two goals were followed by a Jaroslav Vasicek snipe a minute later, giving Dallas three goals in under two minutes to tie the game at four apiece. 

Then, Springfield scored with 25 seconds on the clock.  For those of you scoring at home, that’s nine goals in the first frame – five coming in the final three minutes. 

Entrenched in the second half of the season, Dallas head coach Aaron Davis is looking for more periods like the first one against Springfield. 

“We are looking to be more consistent night in and night out,” Davis said. “Do the little things right that we have not been doing and causing us to lose games.”

Sterling Cooper’s 16-26-42 line leads the team, but coach Davis is looking for everyone on the roster to simply play their part moving forward. Especially given the difficulty of their schedule the rest of the way.

“We need (our top three guys) to keep doing what they are doing and other guys to chip in,” Davis added. “We need to get everyone one on the same page and everyone one needs to know their role. If you’re a scorer, we need you to score. If you’re a grinder, we need you to grind. If you’re a goalie, we need you to make big saves at key times.”

With guys like Cooper, Alex Hladonik (14-26-40), and Vasicek (15-22-37) leading the way, the Snipers will definitely need continued support from their depth. Trenikhin (6-9-15) has a knack for finding the net at opportune times, ditto Trevor Borlace (11-11-22), so it’s going to be deeper in the roster that Dallas will find the needed help for future success. 

Dallas is also getting consistent goaltending from Brady Weiss (1,000 career saves with Dallas), Evan Williams (67 saves on Saturday), and Rafael Goncalves – which will help as the team embarks on a stretch that will see them playing OKC and El Paso beginning this weekend.

By Tyler Whidden