Brian Hamlin had two goals and two assists to lead the Essex 73s to an 8-1 victory over the Dresden Kings.

Hamlin scored at 15:30 into the second period to make the score 5-1 Essex and again while 7:09 into the third to make the score 7-1 Essex.

With the win, Essex evened the series at 1-1 in the best of seven showdown.

Dresden was doomed by its poor performance on special teams, as the 73s were able to score four times while on the power play.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at four seconds into the third period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with four game misconducts.

Essex made the Kings' goalies to work all game long, racking up 45 shots and forcing 37 saves. Brent Paxton made 28 stops and Brandon Funk made nine. The 73s' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on eight Dresden power plays. Essex could not stay out of the penalty box, as the team accrued 37 minutes in penalties during the game.

Essex additionally got points from Corey Beaulieu, who also grabbed one goal and one assist, Sean Ducharme, who also had one goal and one assist, Tyler Pope-Ferguson, who also finished with one goal and two assists, Zack Miletic, who also registered one goal and one assist, and Matthew Hebert, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Dylan Solecki also scored for Essex. Other players who recorded assists for Essex were Kevin Boggs, who had three and Tyler Raymont, Jordan Brohman, and Scott Bromley, who each chipped in one.

Dresden's penalty killing units received substantial work throughout the game as the Kings finished with 35 penalty minutes.

Dresden was led by James Shelton, who scored the team's only goal. Shelton scored 6:46 into the second period to make the score 4-1 Essex. Brennan Rainey picked up the assist.

The 73s' Taylor Speed stopped 20 shots out of the 21 that he faced. For Essex, Rio Anzolin, Brett Beattie, and Colin DeLaet were ejected from the contest. Team's Kyle Havens, Dylan Mertz, and Shelton were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game.