DANBURY HAT TRICKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES
Wolves Give Up Four Goals in Third
by Jeff Barrett Watertown, NY - For the final time this regular season, the Danbury Hat Tricks made their seventh trip to the Watertown Municipal Arena for a rare Thursday night tilt. Five of the previous meetings here in Watertown went to overtime, with two of those games ending in a shootout.
The Hat Tricks came into the night holding an 8 point advantage over the Wolves for the battle for the second spot in the Empire Division playoff hunt, while Watertown held just a one point lead over Port Huron for the third position.
Just :18 into the opening period, the Wolves went on the power play on a Gleb Bandurkin interference call, and less than a minute later, Watertown capitalized with a Trevor Lord goal assisted by Davide Gaeta and Jimmy Lodge to give Watertown the early lead.
Watertown continued the early scoring just 1:12 later at the 2:20 mark when Carter Thornton knocked one from the right side to put the Wolves up 2-0. Lodge and Trevor Neumann were credited with assists on the goal.
Watertown outshot Danbury 14-12 in the first and held the 2-0 lead at the break.
The Hat Tricks Josh Labelle cut the Watertown lead in half at 13:34 of the second period with a wrist shot from the slot, assisted by Chase Harwell.
Danbury outshot Watertown in the second 15-14 making the totals 28-27 in favor of the Wolves after 40 minutes of play.
At the 3:55 mark of the third, Jacob Ratcliffe would tie the game for the Hat Tricks, assisted by Jonny Ruiz and Kyle Gonzalez. Danbury scored three unanswered goals in the third to stretch the lead to 5-2.
First it was Chase Harwell at the 9:02 mark assisted by Ratcliffe, and Xavier Abdella.
Then at the 11:04 mark, Gleb Bandurkin lit the lamp with the assist going to Cory Anderson. making it 4-2.
Connor Wooley added an empty netter at the 19:51 mark to push the score to the 5-2 final.
The Wolves will be back in action Friday night as they host the Continental leading Carolina Thunderbirds with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30pm. For the Hat Tricks, it will be a 2-1/2 hour ride south on route 81 in New York state, to battle the Empire leading Binghamton Black Bears in the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena at 7:00pm
Five Unanswered Goals, Four in Third, Power Hat Tricks Past Wolves, 5-2
by Wyatt Kopelman Watertown, NY - Chase Harwell and Jacob Ratcliffe each had a goal and an assist, and the Hat Tricks rattled off five unanswered goals, four in the third, to defeat the Watertown Wolves, 5-2, at Watertown Municipal Arena on Thursday.
Down 2-0 at the first intermission, Danbury refused to quit against an opponent it has taken down in three straight games on the road. The season series is tied at five with one game to go on April 12 in Danbury.
Kyle Gonzalez intercepted a Wolves pass in the neutral zone and dumped it to Jacob Ratcliffe, who scored on a rebound in the slot to tie the game at two at 3:55 of the third. Harwell then potted a goal from inside the left circle on a rush at 9:02, pushing Danbury to a 3-2 lead and its 13th comeback win of the season. It was the first time the Hat Tricks rallied from behind to win since their road victory at Watertown (4-3SOW) on Feb. 23.
Gleb Bandurkin also scored in the slot with 8:56 remaining to move the Hat Tricks ahead by two. The rookie forward extended his point streak (2-4-6) to five games and has two goals in the last four contests.
The Wolves peppered Conor McCollum early in the first period, firing 14 shots. Trevor Lord scored at 1:08 from the right circle to put Watertown ahead and Carter Thornton slipped one home off a blocker 1:12 later, extending the lead.
With just less than 6 ½ minutes left in the middle frame, the Hat Tricks got on the board as Josh Labelle ripped one home from an empty slot. It was the ninth goal of the season for the fourth-year defenseman and the second in his last six outings.
Connor Woolley also slid home an empty-net goal with nine seconds left. The Pawling, N.Y., forward has netted three in his last four games.
McCollum made 37 saves and improved to 19-10-6 this season. The second-year netminder broke former goalie Brian Wilson’s franchise record in wins (42) and is 43-21-9 as a Hat Trick.
The win gave the Hat Tricks their second in a row and points in 19 of their last 20 games. Danbury won its third straight road contest and it has five victories in its last six.
Up next, the Hat Tricks play the Binghamton Black Bears on the road on Friday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
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