ASTON, Pa – A two-goal comeback attempt was not enough for the Johnstown Tomahawks as they fell 3-2 to the Aston Rebels Friday night at IceWorks Skating Complex.
The Tomahawks and the Rebels exchanged scoring chances in the first period but Tomahawks goalie Andrew Lindgren and Rebels goalie Darion Hanson prevented a puck from getting by them. Both teams skated to a scoreless tie in the first period.
Aston would break the stalemate 4:11 of the second period when Evgeny Yakovlev netted his seventh of the season. Connor Wood and Mitch Ossowski assisted on the goal.
Michael Merulla scored a power play goal to give the Rebels a 2-0 at 16:05 of the second frame.
The score would remain 2-0 until 1:57 of the third period when Drew Doyon scored a goal on the man advantage to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Tomahawks forward Brendan Jaquay knotted the game with his goal assisted by Tommy Horn.
After some sustained offensive pressure, the Rebels regained the lead. Frank Spellman was credited with the game-winning goal.
Lindgren stopped 28 Rebels shots in the loss. His record moves to 2-3-1 as a Tomahawk.
Hanson picked up his eighth win of the season while stopping 18 Tomahawks pucks.
Both teams will finish up the weekend series Saturday night at 7 p.m. at IceWorks Skating Complex.
Johnstown returns to the Cambria County War Memorial Arena Thursday, Dec 31 for the traditional New Year’s Eve game at 6:00 p.m. against the Kenai River Brown Bears For more information, visit johnstowntomahawks.com or call 814-536-GOAL.