Photo: Eric Robbins
 

The Mayhem fell by a 6-1 final at the Pelham Civic Complex in their lone pre-season game on Saturday night.
 

Bus legs plagued the Mayhem for the first few minutes of the tilt, as the Mayhem went to back-to-back penalty kills early on. Stepan Timofeyev was found guilty of high-sticking, and Evan Mackintosh was sent to the box for hooking. The penalties left the Mayhem on a 5-on-3 penalty kill, which they promptly fought off.
 

Despite holding the Bulls scoreless through a pair of power plays, the Mayhem conceded the first goal of the game at 8:52 of the contest. Alex Johnson found the puck at the inside of the right circle and snapped a shot through the five-hole of Alex Fotinos. The Bulls continued to keep the pressure on the Macon net-minder, but Fotinos would keep the door shut for the rest of the period. The Mayhem went on a surge to end the opening stanza, generating six unanswered shots on goal, including a point-blank chance by Timofeyev. Art Brey denied the Russian with a late kick save, and the Mayhem remained a goal behind heading into the first intermission.
 

Birmingham reasserted control in period two, scoring four unanswered goals to take a commanding 5-0 advantage Austin Daae, Conor Pieper, JM Piotrowski and Graham Yeo would all light the lamp for the Bulls. Both teams substituted goaltenders midway through the middle stanza. Joe Young replaced Alex Fotinos for Macon, and Ryland Pashovitz replaced Brey for Birmingham.
 

Piotrowski gave the Bulls a 6-0 advantage just 1:15 into the closing period. Twelve minutes later, the Mayhem managed to get on the scoreboard. After forcing a turnover deep in Bulls’ territory, Soper deposited the puck behind the opposing net and went to the front of the net. Timofeyev slipped him a pass just above the crease, and Soper backhanded a shot past Pashovitz to score Macon’s lone goal of the night.
 

Fotinos denied 12 of 14 shots, while Young turned aside 18 of 22 for Macon. Brey denied all 18, and Pashovitz halted 16 of 17 for the Bulls. The Mayhem will now set their sights on the home opener next Friday night against the Fayetteville Marksmen. For tickets, click here.