JOHNSTOWN – After a four-goal third period comeback by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, the Johnstown Tomahawks used a Casey Linkenheld shootout goal to earn a 7-6 victory at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena Friday night.
The Tomahawks notched the game’s first goal with a Luke Lynch goal at 3:57 of the first period. Lynch’s seventeenth goal of the season was assisted by Logan Hudson and Tiernan Seningen.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tied things up at one when Joseph Campolieto slapped a shot past Tomahawks goaltender Andrew Lindgren.
The Tomahawks found the board once again when Anthony Parrucci netted his sixth of the season when Brendan Jaquay centered a pass right to his stick. The goal came at 5:21 of the second period.
Dalton Hunter increased the Johnstown lead to 3-1 with less than 10 minutes to play in the middle frame. For Hunter, the goal was his fifth of the campaign.
The Knights brought the game back to one goal at 13:53. Braden Brown found the back of the net for his fifteenth of the season.
In the third period, Lynch squeaked one past Knights goalie Grant Valentine on the power play to bring the Tomahawks back to a two-goal cushion. The goal was assisted by Andrew Romano.
Romano added a goal of his own on the man advantage minutes later when he deflected a Filips Buncis wrist shot past Valentine
Dante Suffredini scored the sixth Tomahawks goal with the assist credited to Dalton Hunter.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored at 1:58 with a Stephen Kelly marker off the crossbar. His goal was assisted by Aiden Beck and Matt Beranek.
The Knights cut the Tomahawks lead to two goals after Blake Busch potted a rebound behind Lindgren late in the third period.
Tanner Bennett scored to put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton back by one goal, setting the score at 6-5 Johnstown.
The game was tied up at 6 goals apiece when Jacob Hamacher slid the puck past the outstretched glove of Lindgren, sending the game into three-on-three overtime.
Overtime brought no goals so both teams headed to the shootout round.
Linkenheld scored the lone goal in the shootout round to give the Tomahawks a 7-6 win.
Lindgren stopped 24 of 30 Knights shots on goal en route to his seventh win of the season.
Valentine took the shootout loss while stopping 21 of 28 Tomahawks shots.
Johnstown is back in action at the War Memorial Saturday Jan. 23 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The fourth annual Guns & Hoses Charity Game between fire and police takes place at 5:00 p.m. Admission is free with a purchase of a Tomahawks ticket for Saturday’s game. For tickets, call 1-800-745-3000 or visit the War Memorial Box Office.