JOHNSTOWN, PA — The Johnstown Tomahawks (7-4-3) extended their season-best win streak to five games with a fourth straight home victory after a 6-3 victory over the 2nd place New Jersey Titans (8-5-5) on Halloween night in Johnstown. The Tomahawks got goals from six different skaters to propel them to victory. Alex Gomes recorded his first multi-point effort of the season while Charlie Zetterkvist and Jack Sullivan also recorded multi-point nights. Matthew Wood took the crease for the Tomahawks and was very reliable, making 35 saves on 38 Titan shots.
The Tomahawks returned to home ice Saturday night looking to complete the weekend sweep of the New Jersey Titans and extend their winning streak. Johnstown came out with an explosive offensive mindset – to a capacity that we haven’t seen yet this season – and wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Brody Peterson opened the scoring at the 17:45 mark of the first period with assists from Alex Gomes and Kirby Perler. The Hawks continued to apply the pressure which led to Jacob Duval scoring his second in as many games to double the lead with a power-play goal at 10:04, assisted by Jack Genovese and Connor Maione. Just 19 seconds later, Alex Gomes found the back of the net to push the lead to 3-0 just over the halfway mark of the period. The Tomahawks carried that momentum through the remainder of the opening frame and headed into the first intermission with a three-goal advantage after outshooting New Jersey 11-8.
The second period saw New Jersey begin to push back offensively, as their leading scorer Joe Pocrnic got the Titans on the scoreboard at the 18:13 mark. Former Tomahawk Hudson Slenker followed with another goal at 12:39 to cut the deficit to one and put some pressure back on Johnstown. The Tomahawks responded in a timely manner however, as Ethan Coots restored a two-goal lead with a power-play goal at 7:19. Coots’ sixth goal of the season was assisted by Jack Sullivan and Justin Chiras, giving the Hawks some much-needed breathing room at a crucial stage of the game after New Jersey had worked their way back into the game. The Titans continued to generate chances throughout the period, but Johnstown maintained its 4-2 advantage heading into the final twenty minutes.
The third period got underway with the Tomahawks looking to put the game away, and Jack Sullivan added to his dominant weekend performance as he delivered an important insurance goal at the 9:29 mark to extend the lead to 5-2. Charlie Zetterkvist and Peter Morris were credited with the assists on Sullivan’s third goal of the season. New Jersey answered just over two minutes later though, as Nikolas Doumas brought the Titans back within two at 5-3 with 7:12 remaining. The Hawks continued to battle defensively and got some timely saves from Matt Wood to hold on to their lead before Zetterkvist sealed the victory with an empty-net goal just 19 seconds before the final horn. Sullivan picked up the assist on the goal to complete the three-point night as the Tomahawks closed out the 6-3 victory and completed their second straight weekend sweep. The Tomahawks have won five-straight games and will look to keep rolling next weekend to kick off November as we celebrate Military Appreciation Weekend in Johnstown on November 6-7.
BY: DREW PFEIL