ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Rochester Grizzlies put on an offensive clinic, led by a historic five-goal performance from Mason Decker (6), against the Peoria Mustangs in front of their home crowd with a dominating 11 – 1 win to move to 2-1-0-0 on the season.
From the opening puck drop, it was all Grizzlies. Rochester controlled puck possession, dictated offensive zone time, and racked up chance after chance, but Peoria goaltender Jakub Stary held firm early. That pressure finally paid off when Baylor Stebbins (1) slipped one five-hole off a slick feed from Konnor Goclan (1) with 14:11 left in the first period.
The floodgates opened from there. Rochester struck three more times in the final eight minutes of the frame, including power-play goals from Mason Decker (3) and Brett Ludvigsen (2). The Grizzlies carried a commanding 4-0 lead into intermission, backed by a staggering 26-6 shot advantage.
Peoria briefly showed life in the second, as Brendon Miller (1) scored just 30 seconds in to cut into the deficit. But Rochester quickly silenced any comeback hopes.
Goclan (2) and Stebbins (2) connected again to restore the four-goal cushion, and less than two minutes later, Decker (4) buried his third of the night to complete the hat trick, with helpers from James Korpi (1) and Alex Arneson (1).
Not to be outdone, Stebbins (3) capped his own hat trick dramatically, scoring on the power play with just six-tenths of a second left in the period to stretch the lead to 7-1 after two.
The Grizzlies continued to pour it on in the third, eclipsing the 60-shot mark for the first time this season after putting up 80 combined shots last weekend against the Woodsmen.
Backup netminder Charles Maquet came in for Stary but couldn’t slow Rochester’s attack, as Ludvigsen (3) added his second of the night and Decker struck twice more to seal his five-goal masterpiece.
Decker’s five goals set a franchise record for most by a player in a single game.
Kyle Lappi stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced to move to 2-0-0 on the young season, while Stary fell to 0-3-0. The Grizzlies finished with a decisive 61-17 edge in shots on goal.
Rochester will look to keep its momentum rolling when the two teams meet again tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Central.