Tomahawks Defeat Soo Eagles, 3-2, in Shootout
JOHNSTOWN – Mitch Kontny scored with 3:40 remaining in the third period before scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout to give the Johnstown Tomahawks a 3-2 win over the Soo Eagles on Friday night before 2,141 fans at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
Kontny’s third-period goal was his team-leading fifth of the season for the Tomahawks, who are four points out of first place in the North Division. Brandon Brossoit also scored in the shootout and added an assist on Kontny’s game-tying goal to increase his season point total to 11, just one shy of Cody Gylling’s team-leading 12.
With the win, Johnstown improved its record at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena to 4-0-1 while Soo dropped to 2-3-1 on the road but extended its streak of consecutive games with points earned to eight. The teams meet again Saturday night in Johnstown at 7 p.m.
In his second appearance for Johnstown (6-4-4), Collin Brennan stopped 32 of 34 shots in regulation along with all four shots he faced in the shootout to pick up his second win.
Soo’s Tyler Marble, who came into the game with a .939 save percentage, second-best in the league, stopped 26 of 28 shots in regulation before allowing the two Johnstown goals in the shootout while taking his first shootout loss of the season.
The Tomahawks and Eagles (7-4-3) received strong goaltending from Brennan and Marble in the first period as each goaltender stopped all 11 shots he faced while providing key saves to keep the game scoreless.
Less than two minutes into the second period, Johnstown’s J.B. Baker fired a shot from between the circles over the shoulder of Marble for his third goal of the season, giving the Tomahawks a 1-0 lead. It was the 10th time in the last 11 games that the Tomahawks scored the first goal of the game.
Soo tied the game at 6:43 on a Mike Sabatini goal and took a 2-1 lead less than two minutes later on a Dallas McLaughlin goal at 8:26.
Johnstown had some late chances in the period, but Marble and the Soo defenders kept the Tomahawks off the board until Kontny’s tying goal. Johnstown’s Jeff Bergh had a chance to win the game with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation, but his shot was just off the post.