DASHERS of DANVILLE at DANBURY HAT TRICKS
Hat Tricks Strike for Four Unanswered Goals, Top Dashers 5-2
by Wyatt Kopelman Danbury, CT - Gleb Bandurkin scored twice and the Hat Tricks rattled off four straight goals, three in the third, to take down the Dashers Hockey Club, 5-2, at the Danbury Ice Arena on Friday. Danbury extended its win streak to five games, its longest of the season, and has now secured points in eight straight contests (7-0-1).
Trailing 2-1 after the first period, Danbury found the spark it needed.
Cory Anderson scored on a cross-ice pass from Charlie Bedard with 6:05 left in the middle frame, leveling the game at two.
With about 11 ½ minutes to go in the third, Josh Labelle went to the penalty box for tripping. But Danbury killed off its third penalty of the night before finishing 4-for-4 in that department.
Jacob Ratcliffe sniped his second go-ahead goal in as many games on a snapshot in the high slot to give Danbury the 3-2 lead. Off an offensive zone draw, Gleb Bandurkin capitalized in the slot on the power play thanks to tic-tac-toe passing at 14:42 to extend Danbury’s lead to 4-2.
Bandurkin also scored on a centering pass from the goal line, his 18th goal of the season, at 8:50 of the first to break the ice, 1-0.
Bohdan Zinchenko scored his first of the night at 11:39. The former Hat Tricks forward then netted his second of the period in the slot 3:06 later, lifting the Dashers to a 2-1 lead.
Vadim Frolov added an empty-net goal with 18 seconds remaining.
Conor McCollum stopped 26 shots and won his third straight start to improve to 13-9-4.
Up next, the Hat Tricks host the Dashers for their final game of the weekend on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Hat Tricks Finish Dashers Late
by Devin Dobek Danbury, CT - Sick and tired of the losing streak hanging over their heads, the Dashers traveled to the east coast looking to end a historic slide. Despite a pair of first period goals from Bo Zinchenko and 45 saves from Oscar Wahlgren, the Dashers couldn’t find the will to win against a 4 point night from Gleb Bandurkin and the rest of the Hat Tricks who pulled away late to win 5-2.
With sole ownership of the losing streak dangling, the Dashers knew they had to play their best game of the season against a tough Hat Tricks squad who returns home with a 4 game winning streak. Danbury came out flying to begin period 1, controlling the zone for just about the entirety of the first 8 minutes. To cap off that pressure, Cory Anderson found Gleb Bandurkin in front for an easy tally to open the scoring at 1-0. However, the Dashers sense of urgency seemed to increase after the opening goal. Less than 3 minutes later, former Hat Trick and current Dasher winger Bo Zinchenko collected a turnover in the offensive zone. After a hard shot on net, Zinchenko swatted the rebound over the shoulder of McCollum to tie the game at 1. But Bo wouldn’t be done yet. 3 minutes later, he made a great 1 on 1 move against Bedard to create some space and this time sniped bar-down with a great wrist shot to give his squad the advantage at 2-1. Danbury had a handful of chances in the final 5 but Oscar Wahlgren stood tall to take his team to the break up a goal. Shots were 15-7 Hat Tricks at the conclusion of the first 20.
Period 2 the Dashers seemed to come out a bit flat. The game through 2 periods did not feature too much physical play and just 3 minor penalties, with no one cashing in on special teams. The Hat Tricks were firing on all cylinders, outshooting the Dashers 13-2 through the first half of the frame. Across the midway point is when the Dashers once again began to play to their tempo and create some scoring opportunities the other way, but Danbury continued to counter every Dasher chance with two of their own. In the final 10 minutes of the period, the Dashers and Hat Tricks combined for just 6 shots on goal. The one that would count came in the final 3 minutes. Off a good hard feed from Bedard, Cory Anderson snapped a quick shot to the far post over Wahlgren’s shoulder to tie the game at 2. The shots finalized at 32-13 through 2 frames, in favor of the home team.
20 minutes to snap the slide. The question being would the Dashers have it in them to turn it on late. The first 10 minutes seemed to be an even battle, with both teams turning it on in the physical department. Bodies were flying everywhere with a couple brief fights that left both sides eager to get the next tally. The Dashers had their chances, with Brausen, Murphy, and Siewertsen all being denied on grade A opportunities. The deadlock would break with Jacob Ratcliffe snapping home a shot from the point off a beautiful Vasilyev feed with just over 6 minutes to go. The 3-2 game slipped away when Kim Miettinen took a penalty moments after the ensuing faceoff that led to a Gleb Bandurkin power play goal, his second of the night to make it 4-2. An empty netter from Frolov served as the dagger as the Dashers fell 5-2, being outshot 50-28 in the full 60.
The Hat Tricks improve their winning streak to 5 games, with points in their last 8, the longest streak they’ve had all year. On the other side, the Dashers are now the sole holders of the longest losing streak in professional hockey history at 29 games. They will once again seek to snap the skid tomorrow night at 6:00 CST right back inside the Danbury ice Arena.
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