DANBURY, CT – The Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (9-28-3-0, 21pts) fell 3-2 at home to the Maine Nordiques (12-21-2-3, 29 pts) on Thursday night.
The Nordiques scored late in the first period, and again about two minutes later, giving Maine a 2-0 lead. Halfway into the second period, the Nordiques added another tally to increase their lead to three.
Goaltender Marino Ramirez made 41 saves during his Jr. Hat Tricks home-debut, stopping multiple tough saves on Nordiques attempts.
Marian Haborak was able to rip one past Nordiques goaltender Avery Sturtz during the final minute of the second period to give Danbury some momentum heading into the third period In the third, Robert Hyde added a goal of his own, cutting the Nordiques’ lead to one with 6:28 left in the period.
“I was proud of our resiliency, you know, our issue is that we’re not ready to go from the start,” said head coach Billy McCreary. “If you go down three-nothing out of the gate, it’s tough to win hockey games.”
Within the final minute, Ramirez was pulled during a late 4-on-4 to give Danbury a 5-on-4 advantage. Despite multiple chances with an extra skater, Danbury couldn’t find the tying goal.
The Jr. Hat Tricks look to rebound on Friday as they host the Nordiques again for the final game of this series. The puck is set to drop at 3:30 pm on HockeyTV