Middletown, NJ | Patrick Frenette
Danbury has completed the preseason sweep following a back-and-forth battle against New Jersey, with Hat Tricks forward, Emerson Molas, sealing the deal in OT.
The Titans dominated the ice in the first period despite giving the Hat Tricks two power play opportunities. Titans d-man, JP Saddy, committed a hold giving Danbury their first power play of the game. However, 1:07 later, Titans forward, Owen Leahy, scored the contest’s first goal, shorthanded. Seven minutes later, the Titans would take a 2-0 lead off of a goal from defenseman, Shawn Leary. Danbury wouldn’t be blanked for the first period, as forward, Gates Omicioli netted a goal with 2:37 left in the period.
The ice seemed to tilt in the Hat Tricks’ favor for the second period, as forward, Joey Mallozzi, would tie things up 1:10 in the second period. 55 seconds later, Titans forward, Ryan Shaw, would get past Kiesewetter (DHT G) to take the 3-2 lead. Hat Tricks winger, Emerson Molas, would tie up the score at three only 37 after New Jersey took back the lead. Danbury would also have their penalty kill tested three times throughout the remainder of the second, of which they were able to successfully kill.
All knotted up entering the final frame, both teams were hungry to finish the preseason on top. The first goal of the period would be scored by Titans forward, Ryan Friedman, which boosted New Jersey to a 4-3 lead. 3:33 seconds later, Danbury d-man, Pierre Larocque would fire a shot from the bottom of the far side circle, which forward, Ameen Ghosheh, would tip it in to even it up. Both netminders would be resilient for the remaining time in the period.
Overtime began with New Jersey attacking in Danbury’s zone, of which a turnover would occur leading to Hat Tricks defenseman, Ryan Lukko, saucing it to Emerson Molas, who caught Titans goaltender, Charlie Mistretta, on the back door to complete the sweep. “I saw the goalie bite down, so I just took it around him [and] put it in the open net.” Molas told us following the win.
Head Coach, Lenny Caglianone vocalized his thoughts on todays game stating, “We did a better job today transitionally of making sure we were filling empty spaces in back ice. We did a really good job exposing some of those soft areas by [having] guys play intellectually and finding soft areas that really created grade a chances for us.”
The Hat Tricks kick off the regular season on Friday, September 13, when they host the newest member of the East Division, the Elmira Aviators, at 7:00 p.m. Follow us on our social media pages for game day updates, interviews, and more! You can also stream next weekend’s series on NATV.