Tommy Wingels scored two goals and Evan Stephens collected one goal and two assists as the host RoughRiders rolled to a 6-2 win over the Green Bay Gamblers Saturday night.
Wingels opened the scoring at 4:02 of the first period with the Riders on the power play. Wingels buried a rebound after Green Bay starting goaltender Adam Avramenko stopped Evan Stephens’ bid from the right point.
The Riders doubled the lead when Pat Cannone scored shorthanded at 16:12 of the first period. Cannone cut in front of the Green Bay net to backhand past Avramenko.
The Riders would chase Avramenko from the game at 9:58 of the second period when Jacob Cepis provided the Riders’ second power play goal and third overall from close range.
Wingels welcomed relief netminder Nick Graves to the game by scoring the fourth Rider goal from the slot at 16:08 of the second.
The Riders were again on the man advantage when Aaron Bogosian capped off the second period fireworks. Bogosian tipped in a Brett Dickinson shot from the slot to make it 5-0 with just over 23 seconds left in the middle frame.
The Gamblers got on the scoreboard with a power play goal of their own at 5:20 of the third period. Sergio Somma finally solved Rider goaltender Kent Patterson with a shot from the slot. That goal did little to detract from Patterson’s solid 28 save effort.
Just one minute and eleven seconds later Stephens, who assisted on the first two Rider goals, scored the sixth with a drive from the top of the right wing circle.
Anthony Hayes’s rebound goal at 9:32 of the third period narrowed the margin to 6-2 but did little to dampen the Riders’ spirits.