JOHNSTOWN – A valiant comeback effort fell short at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena as the Johnstown Tomahawks fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 4-3.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton capitalized on Tomahawks penalty when Dmitriy Zaitsev scored his second goal of the weekend to put the Knights on top 1-0.
Stephen Kelly put the Knights up 2-0 when he scored thirty seconds into the second period. Kelly’s goal was unassisted.
The Knights scored again minutes later when Tanner Bennett placed the puck past Tomahawks netminder Andrew Lindgren. Matt Beranek registered the lone helper on Bennett’s fifth of the season.
Braden Brown scored later in the second period to increase the Knights lead to 4-0.
Johnstown got on the board early in the third period when Drew Doyon scored his fourth of the season on the man advantage. Casey Linkenheld and Andrew Romano tallied the assists.
The Tomahawks cut the Knights advantage to two goals when Luke Lynch fired home his ninth of the season. Niko Coffman and Austin Heakins assisted on the goal.
Filips Buncis put the Tomahawks within one goal with a slap shot goal from the right circle.
The comeback effort fell short as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton withheld a Tomahawks comenack attempt in the final minutes.
Grant Valentine picked up the win for the Knights with a 19–save performance. Lindgren takes the loss, stopping 34 of 37 shots.
The Tomahawks and the Knights face off at the War Memorial Saturday night at 7 p.m. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.johnstowntomahawks.com or call 814-536-GOAL (4625).