JOHNSTOWN – A wild night at the Cambria County War Memorial ended with the Johnstown Tomahawks defeating the Northeast Generals 4-3 Saturday night.
The Tomahawks ripped the game’s first goal for the third consecutive game as Dalton Hunter tallied a power play goal at 12:48 of the first period. Donovan Ott and Hayden Rowan assisted on Hunter’s 23rd of the season.
At 16:05, Northeast tied the game at 1-1 after Kohei Sato completed a breakaway with his 11th of the season. Luke Perunovich and Matt Wiesner assisted on the goal.
In the second period, Johnstown broke the 1-1 tie after Mitch Hale fired home a shot off the post for his second of the season. Hunter and Rowan picked up the helpers.
After a Northeast player gloved a puck in the crease, the Tomahawks were awarded a penalty shot at 14:08 of the second period.
Hunter’s name was called to take the shot and he converted for his 24th of the season.
The Generals answered the goal when Jake Hartje netted a marker 51 seconds later. The goal was assisted by Justin Jallen and Sato.
With less than two minutes to play in the middle frame, several altercations occurred between the Tomahawks and Generals.
Generals forward Anthony Mangano left the bench to join in a fight against Tomahawks defenseman Daniil Bokun and when the dust settled, Johnstown would go on a five-minute power play.
Ott capitalized on the extended man advantage by firing home his 22nd of the season at 18:56 of the second period. Nick Bruce and Adam Pilewicz registered the assists.
The Tomahawks killed off a five-minute power play of their own midway through the third period as Tommy Horn was ejected for grabbing an opponent’s face-mask.
Artsiom Anosau scored with 21.8 seconds left for Northeast but the Tomahawks would hang on for the 4-3 win.
Tomahawks goaltender Vinnie Purpura stopped 20 of 23 Northeast Generals shots while Fessenden stopped 46 of 50 Tomahawks shots on goal.
The Tomahawks are on the road for their next series with the Aston Rebels on February 10-11. The Hawks return home February 17-18 for a series with the New Jersey Titans.