JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks were defeated by the Rochester Jr. Americans by a score of 4-2 on Friday night in Johnstown.
Things got underway on Friday and it’s clear both teams wanted to feel each other out and get their feet under them in the opening game of the weekend after a solid week of practice. Through the first five minutes of play, there were only two shots on goal, and both were from Rochester. At 6:23 of the 1st period, Rochester earned the first power-play opportunity of the evening already holding a 10-0 shot advantage. You could almost feel a goal coming for Rochester and it certainly came, with a wicked wrister from the high slot to give the Jr. Americans a 1-0 lead. It took until the clock read 4:00 remaining for the Tomahawks to register their first shot-on-goal of the contest, which isn’t necessarily the ideal way to start a game versus the current NAHL’s East Division leader. However, the Hawks have become comfortably acquainted with this position and thanks to the play of goaltender Nick Avakyan, the Rochester lead was kept at 1-0 after 20 minutes, turning away 16/17 shots.
To begin the 2nd, the Tomahawks wanted to try and give themselves some sort of jolt to start carrying the play, but it was yet another back and forth first few minutes of scoreless action. Rochester went on to add to their lead and make it 2-0 midway through the 2nd period with another great shot but this time it was off an odd man rush. Rochester ended up taking the same lead into the break, along with a heaping 28-9 shot advantage.
A tense five-minutes ensued to begin the final frame and on their first shot of the period, the Tomahawks once again found a way to keep themselves around just long enough to tie the game at two. The next few minutes were played in a more tightly contested manner with some exciting but intelligent hockey, leading up to yet another thrilling climax in Johnstown. With 7:45 to play, Rochester went back to the power-play after the Hawks were nabbed for tripping but carrying over from November, their penalty-kill stood tall in a big moment and remained clicking at an absurd rate of now over 80% after tonight’s contest. After the energizing kill, the momentum was quickly nullified as Rochester capitalized off of a Tomahawks turnover and found a way to sneak one through Avakyan to take the late 3-2 lead. Ultimately the Tomahawks found themselves in a situation they could not climb out of and surrendered a last second empty net goal to fall in this one by a final score of 4-2.
The Johnstown Tomahawks return to action tomorrow night to try and get the series split against Rochester. Saturday night’s game will start at 7:00 PM. December is packed with action, so don’t miss out on the excitement! Secure your tickets and explore all our December promotions at www.johnstowntomahawks.com.
By DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com