ST. LOUIS, Mo. — October 9, 2026 — Liam Doyle entered Friday night still looking for his first goal in a Rochester Grizzlies uniform. He left Affton Ice Rink with three of them. Doyle recorded his first junior hockey hat trick and finished with four points as Rochester earned a 5-2 road victory over the St. Louis Jr. Blues in the opening game of the weekend series. The breakout performance was a fitting next step for the Duluth native, who graduated from Duluth Denfeld last spring after leading the Hunters with 32 points in 26 games, including 13 goals and 19 assists. Doyle was also one of Denfeld’s team captains during his senior season.
After a scoreless first period, Rochester took control in the second. Bennett Timpane opened the scoring 5:50 into the period, finishing a play set up by Doyle and Gianni Brisson. The goal was Timpane’s first in junior hockey. Doyle then took over. He scored his first Grizzlies goal on the power play at 8:46 of the second period, with Zaden Brua and Sawyer Zaruba picking up the assists. Less than six minutes later, Doyle struck again on the power play, this time from Jace Jordan and Brua, to give Rochester a 3-0 advantage.
St. Louis cut the deficit to 3-1 before the end of the period and pulled within one early in the third, but Rochester answered.
Konnor Goclan restored the two-goal cushion at 7:56 of the third period off an assist from Jordan. Doyle then completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal in the final minute, with Jordan collecting his third assist of the night. 10.9 game. The performance gave Doyle his first three junior hockey goals in one night. He also assisted on Timpane’s opener to finish with a four-point game.
Jordan quietly put together a big night of his own with three assists, while Goclan added another goal to his strong start to the season. Rochester generated pressure throughout the night and finished with a 43-22 advantage in shots on goal. Goaltender Cameron Patrick stopped 20 of 22 shots to earn the win. The victory improved Rochester to 5-0-2 at the time and kept the Grizzlies unbeaten in regulation to start the season.
For Doyle, though, the night belonged to the breakthrough. After opening his Grizzlies career with assists but no goals, he found the net three times in one night and turned Rochester’s first road trip of the season into a memorable one.
Game Notes
- Liam Doyle: 3 goals, 1 assist
- Jace Jordan: 3 assists
- Bennett Timpane: first junior hockey goal
- Konnor Goclan: 1 goal
- Cameron Patrick: 20 saves
- Rochester outshot St. Louis 43-22
- Rochester went 2-for-3 on the power play 10.9 game