Tomahawks Capitalize on Power Play to Defeat Division-Leading Ironmen, 5-3
By Suzanne Grove
JAMESTOWN, NY – The Tomahawks capitalized on the power play, scoring four goals with the man-advantage and snapping the North Division-leading Jamestown Ironmen’s nine-game home win streak with a 5-3 victory on Friday night.
With its season-high four power-play goals, Johnstown has gone 13-for-37 (35.1%) on the power play in its past seven games and improved to 27-for-123 (21.9%) for the season. The team now has a 3-0-1 record in its last four road games and has surpassed Port Huron for fourth place in the North Division.
The Tomahawks (10-6-6) got on the board first at 9:26 of the opening period when defenseman Casey Nelson took a slap shot from the left point and Brandon Reinholz picked up the rebound at the bottom of the left circle and put a shot past Jamestown goaltender Ryan Mimmack. Nelson’s assist pushed his scoring streak to three games (2-2-4).
The Ironmen (16-5-2), who had the second best record in the league coming into the weekend, scored their only power-play goal of the game when Evan Ritt picked up the puck from behind the net and eventually found his own rebound to score on Johnstown goaltender Chris Truehl at 14:43, just 29 seconds into an Ian Spencer hooking penalty.
The Tomahawks broke the 1-1 tie when Mitch Konty put the team ahead to stay at 5:48 of the second when he picked up a rebound from Gylling at the bottom of the left circle for the team’s second power-play goal of the game. Kontny has gone 5-4-9 with points in each of the past seven games, matching the second-longest current streak in the league.
Goals less than two minutes apart from Brandon Reinholz, who knocked in a rebound off a shot from Gylling, and Jeff Bergh, who received a pass from Jake Fairchild and one-timed a shot from the top of the right circle, allowed the Tomahawks to enter the third period with a 4-1 lead. Reinholz’s second goal of the game at 17:29 gave him 10 goals, tying him with Kontny for the team lead.
After allowing the Tomahawks to score three unanswered goals in the second, the Ironmen's Ross Pavek scored just 1:23 into the third period to put Jamestown within two goals.
Nelson got his second point of the game when he unleashed a slap shot from the point to give the Tomahawks their fourth power-play goal and finish the Tomahawks’ scoring at 9:26. Nelson has eight points in his last six games, and Gylling’s assist on the goal gave him three for the night.
Truehl allowed his third and final goal of the game when Jamestown’s Dylan Zinc scored at 16:45. Truehl, who was solid between the pipes, stopped 30 of 33 shots in his 11th appearance of the season.
The two teams face each other again Saturday at 5:00 p.m. EST.