JOHNSTOWN – Adam Csabi registered 3 points in his NAHL & Tomahawks Debut, Zack Ferris makes 28 saves as the Johnstown Tomahawks (19-18-3) defeated the New Jersey Titans (21-14-5) by a score of 5-2 in regulation at 1st SUMMIT Arena.
Another exciting weekend in Johnstown got underway and the Tomahawks were sporting yet another specialty jersey, this time to support the Cambria County Backpack Project.
The Hawks got themselves off to a pretty strong start in the game, limiting New Jersey to just one shot through the first five-minutes, while registering five shots of their own in that time. It’s been a while since the Tomahawks actually struck first in a game on their own home-ice, but on Friday that disappointing streak came to a halt. Hawks’ defenseman Sean Morgan snuck himself down from his left-point position getting a nice feed from Dallas Potter and Lukas Klemm slipped it five-hole on the New Jersey goaltender to give the Hawks the much-needed 1-0 lead early.
Following the goal, the game seemed to have really opened up as the total shots on goal for the period began to approach 25, more than we’ve seen total in some contests this season. The period had only two penalties to its name, both coming at the same 13:00 stoppage- coincidental minors for slashing.
The period came to a close with the Hawks controlling in the shot department 15-10 and holding a 1-0 lead.
Coming out of the break, the Tomahawks had reason for optimism to begin the period but also felt like they weren’t in as good of a spot as they could have been, after generating numerous grade A opportunities in the 1st but with only one-goal to show for it. The next goal of the game was certainly going to be important towards the end result of the contest. If the Hawks scored, a strong 2-0 lead would be intact, but if New Jersey scored a whole new game would be underway. Before five-minutes passed in the period, New Jersey would find themselves on two separate odd-man rushes, the first a 3-on-0 which resulted in the first New Jersey goal just one-minute into the frame. Another 2-on-0 chance for New Jersey was stymied by Ferris, but at the 14:37 mark, New Jersey struck again, snatching the lead right out of the Tomahawks grasp making it 2-1.
With just about eight-minutes to play, the game had it’s defining moment when New Jersey was given a game misconduct and 5-minute penalty after a questionable hit on Hawks forward, Adam Ondris subsequently knocking him out of the remainder of the game. The absence of Ondris, who is a key cog in this Tomahawks team, lit a fire under them and especially the power-play unit. With just about two-minutes left on the major penalty, Hawks forward Nick White was able to find the back of the net after Caden Olenczak sent the puck through a seam and he sniped one short-side to nod it back up at two, heading to the 2nd intermission.
Shots after two periods were once again in favor of the Tomahawks, leading 23-18.
If a hockey game is tied heading to the final 20-minutes, you’re usually in for an exciting finish. Luckily, the fans at 1st SUMMIT Arena had little to be nervous about during the final 10-minutes. The Tomahawks went on to play their best period of the night, registering the only three goals of the period. The first came from newest Tomahawks forward Adam Csabi who made his NAHL debut in the contest. The assists were credited to Dylan Shane and Zack Ferris. Nick Jarmain really began to put this one away after scoring three-minutes later making it 4-2, after assists from Nick White and Lukas Klemm.
The minutes following the Tomahawks 3rd period scoring outburst, were nothing short of a defensive masterclass, completely shutting down the high-powered New Jersey offense. As the period was winding down and the home crowd’s Friday night party was getting started, Charlie Zetterkvist gave them something else to cheer about making it 5-2 with help from Csabi, registering his 3rd point of the night.
From what we are so accustomed to with goaltender Zack Ferris, making ten-bell saves left and right, the team didn’t have to rely on him as much which is a good sign of things to come. Ferris was still his comfortable self though, making the saves he needed too in key moments, and even chipped in an assist.
The final shots on goal for the contest were counted at 33 for the Hawks and 30 for New Jersey.
Your Johnstown Tomahawks are back home tomorrow night at 1ST SUMMIT Arena to host the New Jersey Titans to wrap up the series and the four-game homestand. Saturday night’s action will kick off at 7:00PM. Get your tickets 24/7 at www.johnstowntomahawks.com or by stopping in the Tomahawks main office. Can’t make it to the game? Catch all the action live at nahltv.com. Stay up to date with the Johnstown Tomahawks by following us along on social media.
By: DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com