DANBURY –
The Johnstown Tomahawks (1-1-0) were defeated the Danbury Hat Tricks (1-1-0) by a score of 5-2 on Saturday night to split the first series of the young season. The Hat Tricks were led by their goaltender Jon Dukaric who made 33 saves on 35 shots for the victory and F Evan Dantas who recorded 2 points.
The beginning of Saturday’s contest got off to a physical start with both teams throwing several body checks early on. An increased level of animosity is usually expected in the second game of a series as any tension tends to carry over to the next night. The Tomahawks chose to give a look to 2007 born goaltender Leon Chapkis and he was rather busy early on, making a couple of strong saves. However, Danbury would capitalize on their fifth shot of the game as they finished off a pretty passing play to take the 1-0 lead for the second consecutive night. The Hat Tricks clearly were getting to their gameplan early on and clogging up the neutral zone leading to several Tomahawks icing calls through just seven minutes. Through 14-minutes, Danbury was essentially in full control of the game with a 12-4 shot advantage and getting on the forecheck consistently. Almost 15-minutes later as the period was coming to a close, Danbury would go on to add the second goal of the game and it was 2-0 with 1:49 left. Finishing a period on a positive note is always good for the remainder of a hockey game, especially finding yourselves down on the scoreboard. The Tomahawks did just that as Jack Genovese forced a turnover and scored his 3rd goal in just four periods, finessing a shot over the shoulder of the Hat Tricks goaltender making it 2-1 as we went to the break. Danbury held a commanding 17-5 shot advantage after the 1st.
With what should’ve been momentum in the Tomahawks favor entering the 2nd period, Danbury grabbed it right back scoring just two-minutes into the period to make it 3-1. Following the goal, the Tomahawks were given several opportunities to cut the deficit after drawing two penalties over the next six-minutes. However, the successful Danbury penalty kills, gave them tons of momentum as they tripled the lead to 4-1 late into the 2nd. Although not showing up via the scoreboard in totality on Saturday, the Tomahawks sure have shown their ability to focus on the next play after surrendering a goal. Tomahawks captain Nick Jarmain scored his 2nd of the weekend off a nice 2-on-1 break with Emerson Marshall less than a minute after the 4th Danbury goal. The Hawks would get another chance on the powerplay to get within one but nothing doing. 4-2 was the score heading to the locker room for the 2nd intermission. Johnstown took over the shot advantage at 27-22 after two, after an insane 22 shot on goal effort, only being able to find the back of the net once. Credit to Hat Tricks goaltender Jon Dukaric for backstopping his team and allowing them to continually build a lead in the game.
Looking to avoid their first loss of the season, the Tomahawks needed to come out with intensity in the 3rd. Well, after eight minutes of back and forth action, they showed intensity, just not in the right department. The Tomahawks would go on to take three minor penalties over the next three-minutes. The third penalty would ultimately be detrimental as Danbury tripled the lead once again at 5-2 with just seven-minutes to play. That would go on to be the final score in this one leading to a weekend series split. Final shots on goal for the game were 35-28 in favor of Johnstown.
Your Johnstown Tomahawks are back in action in just six days as we take on the Northeast Generals in Canton, Massachusetts on Friday, September 19th. Catch all the action at https://nahltv.com/ and follow our social media accounts @tomahawkshockey so you don’t miss a beat!
BY: DREW P. PFEIL