KINGFISH RACE PAST MOCCASINS, 6-2, IN SEASON OPENER

BATON ROUGE, L.A. – The Baton Rouge Kingfish past by the Monroe Moccasins, 6-2, tonight on home ice at Raising Cane’s River Center in their opening game of the 2026-27 season.

Monroe struck first just over halfway through the first period on a wrist shot from Jared Christy at the right circle. Jake Cox leveled the contest six minutes later, tapping in a centering feed from Joseph Drapluk. Despite the Kingfish outshooting the Moccasins, 20-5, the game was deadlocked at one after the opening frame.

In the second period, the Kingfish volleyed 21 more shots on Moccasins’ goaltender Chris Branch. Only Matt Stoia, at 16:15, was able to find the back of the net, beating the Monroe goaltender on the blocker side. Baton Rouge led, 2-1, after forty minutes, leading in shots on goal, 41-11.

Monroe defenseman Jamie Dorsey received a match penalty for head-butting, and the Kingfish began the third period on a five-minute powerplay. In the span of 3:24, Baton Rouge scored three powerplay goals to put the game out of reach. Jason Brancheau slotted home a feed from Tyler Williams , Drapluk deflected home a Stoia point shot and Cox nabbed his second of the night to complete the scoring spree. That chased Branch, and Matthew Cole played the final 16 minutes of the third period in goal.

The Moccasins cut their deficit to three on an Austin Pick powerplay goal, but Dmitry Kuznetsov restored the Kingfish’s four-goal advantage with an empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining.

Ed Coffey parried 17 of the 19 shots he faced to earn his first victory of the season.

Baton Rouge and Monroe rematch Saturday night in Monroe, with the opening faceoff scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Monroe Civic Center.

For the latest Kingfish news, visit www.brkingfish.com or follow the club on X (@kingfishbrla), Instagram (@brkingfish) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/BatonRougeKingfish/)