JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks were defeated by the Maryland Black Bears by a score of 4-1 on Friday night in Maryland.
Maryland came ready to play right out of the gate, showing no signs of rust the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. The Black Bears quickly found themselves ahead 2-0, scoring goals on each of their first two shots on goal, both before the five-minute mark. The Tomahawks needed a spark to get themselves back in it quickly before the game got out of reach and it’s no surprise that goaltender Zack Ferris was that spark, turning away the next 13 Maryland shots to keep his team in it. With about three minutes to play in the period, the Tomahawks were given their first chance on the power-play desperately needing to net one. Tomahawks forward Cullen Emery quickly delivered a net-front rebound, getting an assist from defenseman Lukas Klemm to make it 2-1 late in the first. The teams headed for break at the same 2-1 score, but Maryland possessed a telling 16-6 shot advantage.
The 2nd period was going to be an important one for the Tomahawks and they didn’t help their case, getting caught with an unorganized too-many men on the ice penalty just under two-minutes. However, the Hawks made up for it with a strong penalty-kill and started to generate some of their own opportunities shortly after the kill. The rest of the period was played in a pretty uneventful manner as there were no goals from either side, but each goaltender did provide some entertainment with impressive saves at both ends.
The Hawks flipped the script from the beginning of the 2nd period getting their own early power-play to start the 3rd period, but Maryland stymied the man advantage. The NAHL playoffs are still about four months away, but after the goals in the first period on Friday night, the remainder of the game could’ve been disguised as a playoff style contest. Each team started to play more of a careful style of hockey but like so many instances this season, the Tomahawks found themselves in a huge 41-14 shot disadvantage with five-minutes to play and we’re fighting an uphill battle. The Tomahawks found themselves on the power-play in a golden spot with about seven minutes to play but just couldn’t generate much of anything to tie the game up. After their strong penalty-kill, Maryland ended up capitalizing on a pretty passing play to take a dormy 3-1 lead, with just about three minutes to play. The Hawks were in desperation mode late and ended up surrendering an empty-net goal for the Black Bears, ultimately falling on Friday night by a score of 4-1.
The Johnstown Tomahawks will have less than 24 hours to regroup as they face-off against Maryland again tomorrow night on Saturday, November 30th starting at 7:30PM. Fans can enjoy a free preview of NAHLTV from November 27th–30th, the perfect opportunity to stream the action for free at www.nahltv.com.
By DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com