RECAP : Growlers Shutout the Beast 5-0

Brampton Beast (25-18-2-0) at Newfoundland Growlers (31-11-0-1)Friday, January 31st – Mile One Centre – St. John’s, NL Goal Summary 

Game Story The Newfoundland Growlers extended their home winning streak to 17 games in a 5-0 blanking over the Brampton Beast Friday night at Mile One Centre before a crowd of 4,368. The win puts the Growlers tied for the second all-time longest home winning streak in league history. The puck was barely dropped when Joseph Duszak cut across and fed Aaron Luchuk a pass which he made no mistake on, re-directing his 15th of the season behind Alex Dubeau just 19 seconds in for a 1-0 Growlers lead. Luchuk’s tally stood as the only offense in the opening frame, and both teams registered eight shots on goal. Luchuk rifled home his second of the night at 8:16 of the second period after one-timing a Garrett Johnston feed top shelf on the powerplay for a 2-0 Growlers lead, and with 28.7 seconds to play Trey Bradley fired a shorthanded wrister past Dubeau for his 11th of the season to send the Growlers to the locker room up 3-0 after 40 minutes of play. Aaron Luchuk re-directed a Joseph Duszak point shot to complete the hat trick against his former team at 4:38 of the third period to put the Growlers ahead 4-0 and to send Growlers Nation into a frenzy, and Brady Ferguson picked the top corner just under four minutes later for a 5-0 lead. The Beast applied heavy pressure in the final minutes of the game while on a powerplay, but Parker Gahagen stood tall and turned aside all 33 shots he faced to preserve the shutout for a 5-0 victory. Quick Hits

• Parker Gahagen has recorded a shutout in two of his last three starts
• Giorgio Estephan moved fourth in league scoring with a pair of assists
• The three stars were 3 – J. Melindy (NFL), 2 – P. Gahagen (NFL) and 1 – A. Luchuk (NFL)

 What’s Next?The Newfoundland Growlers pay tribute to the St. John’s Maple Leafs in a rematch tomorrow night with the Brampton Beast, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Mile One Centre Box Office and online at mileonecentre.com.