Game Summary @ Philadelphia Freeze 12/8/24

The Dare Devils get around and we've played in plenty of rinks that can be called "ice boxes" - we've experienced Buffalo cold, Rochester cold, Binghamton Farm Rink cold and even Minnesota cold. However, we've never experienced cold that is colder than the Tarken Rec Center Ice Rink in Northeast Philadelphia.

If the Philadelphia Freeze were trying to psych out the Dare Devils with the freezing temperatures, it backfired. The Dare Devils were in need of the cold air wake up call after stepping off the Codey practice rink at 10:30pm last night. The crisp Tarken air gave the NJ squad a burst of energy and the boys came out flying on the first shift. Owen Silverstein opened the scoring, taking a clean breakout pass from Will Milazzo, followed by Liam Smith burying a breakaway off an assist from Shea Passikoff and Shea Passikoff closing out the shift by putting home a wraparound. The flood gates opened at this point as both teams played a wide-open game that ultimately went to a shootout. In addition to the first shift fireworks, a few of the regulation highlights include Connor Hung making a beautiful neutral zone poke check and taking the puck back up ice to bury a breakaway, Will Milazzo rushing up the left side and making a perfect drop pass to Shea Passikoff at the blue line that Shea was able to sneak past the Freeze goalie, and Owen Silverstein taking a Patrick Hung pass up the middle and besting the Freeze goaltender on the high glove side.

After regulation ended, the game went to a shootout. Will Milazzo opened the scoring for the Dare Devils and his teammates followed suit with Liam Smith, Shea Passikoff, James Cooney, Patrick Hung (off an unbelievable spin-a-rama move), Owen Silverstein and Connor Hung all converting their shootout chances. After the first round, the game was still tied and Coach T summoned our shootout specialist, Liam Smith, to take the extra shot. Liam channeled his inner TJ Oshie and beat the goalie 5 hole to seal the victory for the Dare Devils.

All of the Dare Devils made the regulation scoresheet led by Shea Passikoff with 9 goals and 1 assist, Owen Silverstein with 5 goals and 1 assist, Patrick Hung with 2 goals and 2 assists, James Cooney with 3 goals and 1 assist, Connor Hung with 2 goals and 1 assist, Will Milazzo with 3 assists, Liam Smith with 1 goal and Ayden Duran with 1 assist. Solid defensive contributions were put in by Will Milazzo (acting as ad interim captain), Patrick Hung, Connor Hung, Owen Silverstein, James Cooney and Ayden Duran.

Lastly, we would like to thank the Philadelphia Freeze for treating us with brotherly love. There's always a fear of heading into Philadelphia, especially in December. We had visions of angry fans throwing snowballs at us as if we were Santa Claus at an Eagles game. But our fears were unwarranted as everyone associated with the Freeze could not have treated us better. They welcomed us with open arms, lent us a pair of skates after our esteemed team manager forgot to pack both of his kid's skates, shared one their goalies with us, and treated us to a feast of Philadelphia pretzels, donuts, fruit and other snacks after the game. Thank you Freeze - you are one of our favorites! We can't wait to play you again!