DANBURY – Adam Csabi recorded two points (1G, 1A) and Nick Avakyan made 23 saves as The Johnstown Tomahawks (27-20-3) defeated the Danbury Hat Tricks (20-29-3) by a score of 4-2 in regulation on Friday, March 14th in Danbury, CT.
Coming off of a disappointing shootout loss in front of nearly 4,000 fans last weekend, the Tomahawks had one goal in mind before their road-trip to Danbury and that was to get four points. Before Friday night’s action, the Tomahawks sat in a comfortable fifth place in the NAHL’s East Division standings. If they were to get to fourth place, they would clinch home ice advantage for the first round of playoffs.
The first few minutes of action played out in spectacular fashion for the Tomahawks, as forward Dallas Potter registered his 4th goal of the season at the 1:44 mark. Tate Pecknold got himself in on the forecheck and forced a quick Danbury turnover putting the puck directly on Potter’s stick and he made no mistake.
With the 1-0 lead, the last thing the Tomahawks wanted to do was let Danbury find their game. However, the Tomahawks were found guilty on two occasions for high-sticking. The second penalty proved to be costly as Danbury went on to score and tie the game at 1-1.
The first period came to a close with the score still tied at 1-1 with Danbury controlling the majority of play and the shots advantage 14-5 after 20-minutes.
After somewhat of a sloppy finish to the first, the Tomahawks had an opportunity on the power-play right at the opening puck drop of the 2nd period. Adam Csabi wasted zero time on the man-advantage getting the Hawks lead back at 2-1 just 20 seconds in. The assists on Csabi’s 3rd of the season were credited to Dylan Shane and Caden Olenczak.
Fighting back once again after surrendering a goal, the Hat Tricks answered just two-minutes later to tie it once again at 2-2.
The remainder of the 2nd period seemed like it was played entirely in the Danbury zone and the Hat Tricks did the best they could to hold off the Tomahawks onslaught, but it ultimately became too much, giving up goals with 5:00 and 3:00 minutes to play. The first of these Hawks goals came off of a textbook passing play from Jacob Ingstrup and Adam Csabi as they setup Cullen Emery for the wide-open cage. The second coming from the stick of Sam Blanton via unassisted wicked wrister as he beat the Hat Tricks goaltender up high off the rush and doubled the Hawks lead at 4-2.
The Tomahawks’ three goal 2nd period propelled them into the intermission with a comfortable but not safe, 4-2 lead. Danbury still led the shots on goal category by a total of 19-16.
The Tomahawks were sent to the power-play early to begin the 3rd period, but Danbury was able to get the kill they needed to keep themselves in the game. With only three shots on goal combined through 16:00 of play, both teams seemed to be running low in their gas tanks. The Tomahawks were doing a great job keeping the Hat Tricks attack to the perimeter and not allowing their lead to be tarnished. A late Hat Tricks penalty didn’t allow them to start a true goalie-pull desperation attempt to tie the game and the final horn sounded giving the Hawks the 4-2 regulation victory.
The Tomahawks are back at it in Danbury tomorrow on Saturday, March 15th at 7:00PM to look for the series sweep! Stay connected by following us on social media @tomahawkshockey. Can’t make it to the game? Watch every Tomahawks matchup live on NATV!
BY: DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com