JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks defeated the Northeast Generals by a score of 5-4 in overtime to earn the weekend split on Saturday night at 1st Summit Arena.
After a disappointing showing on Friday night, the Tomahawks responded quite well early on, outshooting Northeast 10-4 in the period for one of the few times in the last four consecutive meetings between these two teams. With 7:00 remaining in the first period, newly acquired Tomahawk Owen Mahar notched his first of the season to give the Tomahawks a 1-0 lead heading to intermission.
The Tomahawks kept their foot on the gas and kept the momentum rolling to begin the 2nd period, with a goal from Nick Jarmain just 22 seconds into the period to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead with assists to Nick White and Dylan Shane. This goal proceeded to blow the lid off of this one, as another four goals were scored in the next 15 minutes of action. Northeast fought hard to battle back after going down 2-0 and scored the next three goals of the game, all within a span of three minutes and the third coming while the Tomahawks were on the powerplay. In the last five minutes of a wild 2nd period, Tomahawks forward Thomas Weekes stepped up and delivered his first goal of the season off of a beautiful backhand pass from Luke Sakala to tie the game up for the Hawks.
The Tomahawks had a big 20 minutes ahead of them entering the final frame tied at 3-3 and Charlie Zetterqvist did his best to make his imprint on this one, striking just two minutes into the period to give the Tomahawks a 4-3 lead after some gorgeous chemistry with his linemates, Tate Pecknold and Ryan Flaherty. The goal sparked some energy into the crowd at 1st Summit Arena but unfortunately only lasted another six minutes, as Northeast would get it right back and tie the score once again 4-4. The remainder of the period played out almost with the feel of a playoff game, with scoring chances on both sides and lots of energy from a great home crowd. However, it proved not to be enough to solve this one as the game headed for overtime.
After an overtime period that felt like an entire 20-minute period, Tomahawks forward Cullen Emery decided to send the generals packing with a dazzling solo effort dancing his way around the netminder to finish the Saturday night thriller off in exhilarating fashion.
The Tomahawks return to action next weekend for another home series against the Maryland Blackbears, opening up on Friday, November 15th at 7:30PM at 1st Summit Arena. Head to our website, www.johnstowntomahawks.com and secure your seats now! As always stay up to date with your Johnstown Tomahawks by following us on our social media pages. Fans can watch all the action live on NATV (nahltv.com.)
By DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com