DANBURY, CT – The Danbury Hat Tricks of the NAHL returned to action Friday afternoon and took the Maryland Black Bears down to the wire, but eventually fell 5-4.
The game opened up with Danbury and Maryland trading goals – the Black Bears got one from Branden Piku and the Hat Tricks got one from Luka Sukovic (3). Maryland would then be the beneficiary of two fortuitous bounces when Matthew Davies and Tyler Young netted a pair of goals only twenty seconds apart.
After the first, the Hat Tricks outscored Maryland 3-2 for the remainder of the contest but couldn’t overcome those two quick goals.
The second period saw Jake Howard (2) and Andrew Eberling (3) score for Danbury, but they surrendered a goal to Maryland to enter the third period still chasing a goal.
Danbury and Maryland traded goals in the third, starting with Miles Gunty for the Black Bears. Mike Salandra (8) netted a goal on a beautiful pass from Gabe Dombrowski to make it a one-goal game.
The Hat Tricks would swarm as time was ticking down, but couldn’t best Luca Di Pasquo at the end of the game and eventually fell 5-4.
Adam Johnson got the start in net for the Hat Tricks and recovered well after a tough start racking up 31 saves on 36 shots.
The Hat Tricks and Black Bears play again tomorrow night here at Danbury Arena. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop and can be heard live on HockeyTV.
You can buy tickets to tomorrow’s game on our website or at the front gate of Danbury Arena. If you can’t make it out to the game, make sure to follow along with all the action live via HockeyTV or online via our social media channels.