JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks were defeated by the Danbury Hat Tricks in ugly fashion, losing 6-1 in regulation.
The Tomahawks were looking to extend their winning streak to three at the start of the game on Saturday night. It was a slow first five-minutes that featured just 1 shot-on-goal and in Danbury’s eyes, this is somewhat of a positive compared to yesterday’s result. The Tomahawks had a chance to get back to yesterday’s style with an early power-play opportunity. The man-advantage didn’t seem to work in the Hawks’ favor too well as they generated just one shot as Danbury had several full-ice clears to kill it off. The rest of the period played out at a pretty slow pace with not much in the realm of chances for either side. The Tomahawks took an 8-4 shot advantage to the locker room in a 0-0 game but feeling pretty good at where the game was heading.
After controlling much of the first, the Tomahawks just needed to put some pucks in the back of the net to get rewarded. However, to kick off what would turn into an absolute disaster first ten minutes of the period, Danbury would score just .42 seconds into the period, sparking a frenzy of four-goals over the next seven minutes, stunning the home crowd and giving the Hat Tricks a commanding 4-0 lead. For a change of momentum, Hawks’ goaltender Nick Avakyan entered the game for the Tomahawks and in a tough situation, he was up to the task. With just about five minutes to play in the period, Hank Reed broke the seal for the Tomahawks and gave them a small step in the right direction towards what has turned into quite the large hill to climb in the remaining 26 minutes of hockey. The teams headed to the break at the same 4-1 score, with now Danbury controlling the shot advantage 20-16.
To begin the 3rd period, Hawks’ forward Ryan Flaherty drew an elbowing penalty which put his team in a great spot to get another step closer to making this one interesting. It’s hard to not give Danbury their flowers for their penalty killing prowess on the weekend, killing off this one early in the 3rd and closing the window slowly but surely on the Tomahawks comeback. The Tomahawks were definitely working hard to get back in it following the power play tilting the ice heavily in the Danbury defensive zone, but goaltender Tyler Spokane was standing tall keeping the deficit at three. With just seven minutes to play, still down three goals the Tomahawks needed to figure out a way to solve the Danbury goaltender, and fast. In full desperation mode, the Hawks’ pulled Avakyan to try anything to get on the board, but it took all of 30 seconds for Danbury to put the nail in this one with an empty net goal making it 5-1. Adding insult to injury, with three minutes left, Danbury would capitalize off of another rush chance and made it 6-1, taking all the life out of the Tomahawks bench and the entire crowd at 1st Summit Arena.
The Johnstown Tomahawks return to action in two weeks for another homestand to celebrate New Years Eve. Games will take place on Monday and Tuesday so be sure to mark your calendars! Monday night’s game will start at 7:00 PM. Don’t miss out on the excitement and get your New Years Eve plans started with the Johnstown Tomahawks! Secure your tickets and explore all of our future promotions at www.johnstowntomahawks.com.
By DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com