JOHNSTOWN – Nick Avakyan made 24 saves, and Sam Blanton notched the lone Johnstown Tomahawks (21-19-3-1) goal in a 2-1 shootout loss on Friday night versus the Philadelphia Rebels (17-23-2-1) at 1ST SUMMIT Arena.
Heading into Friday night’s home-series opener against the Philadelphia Rebels, the Tomahawks found themselves in a contest with a team that sits below them in NAHL’s East Division standings, a scenario that hasn’t occurred in over two and a half weeks. The Rebels sit in the basement of the East but only find themselves six points out of a playoff spot with an extra game in-hand. It’s safe to say the four available points on the weekend were going to be crucial towards what the next two-months will look like for both teams.
Although the 1st period seemed to have started out slow with no goals through the first 15 minutes, that most likely stems from the Hawks’ matchup last weekend against the high-flying Black Bears in Maryland and the way those games began.
With the loss of goaltender Zack Ferris for the remainder of the season, the Tomahawks were put in quite the precarious position for not just this weekend’s action, but for the next 14 games. Where one season ends in heartbreaking fashion, the window of opportunity for fellow goaltender Nick Avakyan has suddenly become wide open.
The 1st period didn’t yield much in the way of physicality, or in action. However, with just 13 seconds to play in the period, the Rebels were sent to the box for tripping and the Hawks would have an opportunity to break through first either in the final seconds or to begin the 2nd. Only 11 total shots were credited for both teams with the Hawks leading slightly at 6-5.
Wasting little time on the carry-over power-play from the 1st, Hawks’ forward Sam Blanton finished off a pretty passing play from Markas Samenas and Cullen Emery to give his team the 1-0 lead. This goal seemed to have turned the tides in the game and really began to tilt the ice in the Tomahawks favor. The Rebels began to turn the puck over in their own zone leading to more Hawks chances but to no result.
Momentum in hockey can be fickle. The Tomahawks experienced that firsthand throughout the 2nd period. After controlling most of the play and keeping most of the Philadelphia threats to the outside, a Rebels 2-on-1 presented itself and it took one shot to tie this game up at 1-1.
The Rebels goal seemed to spark the Tomahawks and give them a boost of energy in the following shifts. Philadelphia goaltender, Anthony Sciere was doing his best to nullify every Tomahawks opportunity he could, and he was succeeding.
The final moments of the period began to turn into a track meet, with both teams trading chances with a ton of speed and physical play. It’s not often that you find a game that contains so much physicality but only results in one penalty call after 40 minutes of play, but that’s the way things were heading as the teams broke for intermission. After two periods, Philadelphia maintained a 21-16 shot on goal advantage.
A big 3rd period was in store for the approximately 2,411 people in attendance at 1ST SUMMIT Arena as the teams were set to battle for 20 more minutes to find a winner. As the minutes began to tick off the clock you could also begin to feel the tense energy begin to creep in.
The Tomahawks earned the first real opportunity to make something happen in the 3rd as they were heading for their second power-play of the night. By no surprise, the Hawks sent out the same unit that was responsible for their first and only goal to this point with Blanton, Emery, Zetterkvist, Samenas, and Klemm. Philadelphia made the necessary adjustments from the 1st period as they stymied the Tomahawks man-advantage, keeping the score at one apiece in the crucial stages of the game.
Following the 5:00 minute mark of the 3rd, the Hawks began to put intense pressure on the Rebels, clearly showing that they wanted to be the only team walking out of the game with points. The pressure didn’t necessarily lead to great scoring opportunities, it led to several routine stops for the Rebels goaltender. If the Hawks were going to win this game, they were going to have to find a way to get a bounce or get creative.
After 60-minutes of hockey, the 1-1 score was still intact and we were destined for Overtime.
3-on-3 hockey tends to be played at an extremely high pace with an abundance of chances both ways, this was no different. A period that is based on possession and finding the right chance, the Rebels found their chance on numerous occasions, but Avakyan was there every time to keep his team alive. It was just one of those nights in Johnstown, where through 65 minutes of action, only two goals found the back of the net and only 49 total shots were put on net.
The shootout would end up being the demise of the Tomahawks, as they failed to score in three attempts and on the Rebels third attempt, they would score putting the game away by a final score of 2-1.
Get ready, Tomahawks fans! Your Johnstown Tomahawks are back at 1ST SUMMIT Arena tomorrow, February 15th to host the Philadelphia Rebels. The action kicks off Saturday at 7:00 PM with Hockey Heritage Night, where we’ll honor the legendary Johnstown Jets with special edition jerseys. Grab your tickets now at www.johnstowntomahawks.com. Can’t make it to the arena? Catch all the excitement on our award-winning broadcast via NATV at nahltv.com. Stay connected with your Tomahawks—follow us on social media @tomahawkshockey for the latest updates!
BY: DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com