POORMAN LIFTS TOMAHAWKS PAST HAT TRICKS WITH OVERTIME GOAL

Mar 6, 2021

The Johnstown Tomahawks completed the weekend sweep against the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks with an overtime win on Saturday afternoon in Connecticut.

The Tomahawks went with Josh Graziano in net again for the second game in a row, but the Hat Tricks switched it up with Andrew Pichora between the pipes on their end. Both sides got into it right away throwing shots at the net, but Will Margel found the back of the net first to open the scoring giving the Tomahawks the first goal of the game. Later on in the period, Spencer Evans skated off for a holding minor to give his former team their first power play of the afternoon. That wouldn’t last though, as Alex Krause was then also called for holding, sending the two teams to 4-on-4 action, then a short amount of power play time for the Tomahawks in the final few minutes of the period. Neither side found success with special teams, ending the 1st period with a one goal lead for the Tomahawks.

Amid a big pileup in front of Danbury’s net, the Tomahawks hacked away at the net until John Gelatt somehow found the back of the net, scoring his league-leading 19th goal of the season to put the Hawks ahead by 2 early in the 2nd period. Pichora played a big part in keeping Danbury in the game, making a flurry of big saves to prevent the Tomahawks from extending their lead. At the 12:59 mark of the period, Max Neill got sent to the box with a roughing minor, giving the Hat Tricks their second power play opportunity of the game. Danbury’s Jason Kleinhans would put the puck behind Graziano to put the Hat Tricks on the board with a power play goal with only eight seconds remaining on the advantage. Just two and a half minutes later, Robert Hyde netted his third goal of the season tying the game up just like that. The remainder of the period would play out, sending the teams into the second intermission hungry to secure a win in the final period.

Both teams came out flying to start the 3rd period, desperately looking for a go-ahead goal. Both sides fought hard in the final 20 minutes but neither would find the back of the net, sending the game into 3-on-3 overtime. The sudden-death play opened with a big chance for the Hat Tricks, but Graziano came up big to keep the puck out of the net. Moments later, Ryan Poorman was taken down and thought a penalty should have been called, but the officials disagreed. Poorman and the rest of the Tomahawks then went down the ice and scored, ending the game with a win for the Tomahawks only 1:27 into overtime.

The Tomahawks are back home next weekend at 1ST SUMMIT ARENA as they are set for two games against the Maryland Black Bears on Friday, March 12 at 7:30 PM and Saturday, March 13 at 7 PM. Get your tickets now through Ticketmaster or by calling the Tomahawks office.