For the first time in six tries, the Johnstown Tomahawks were able to defeat the Rebels at IceWorks this season as the visitors won 5-2. The loss put Aston two points out of first while Johnstown moved two points closer to the Rebels.
After a scoreless first period, Johnstown struck first. Niko Coffman took a feed from Casey Linkenhed and beat Rebels goalie Darion Hanson with a nice shot with 11:32 left in the first period. It was the first time Hanson, who was starting his fourth consecutive game, allowed a goal in 106 minutes.
Then three minutes later Evgeny Yakovlev picked up a Drew Blackmun rebound and put it past Johnstown’s goalie Andrew Lindgren to tie the game. But the lead didn’t last long. Thirty seconds later, former Rio Grande Valley Bee Tommy Horn beat Hanson putting the Tomahawks up 2-1. With 6:31 left in the period, Connor Wood took an interference penalty. Kelly O’Brien and Ryan Burr set up Zak Galambos who put it past Hanson giving Johnstown a 3-1 lead. Two minutes later Drew Blackmun brought the Rebels back within one. But as the period was winding down, O’Brien picked up his second point of the night as he light the lamp with forty five seconds left giving the Tomahawks a 4-2 lead going into the final period.
After a back-and-forth third, Lansdale, PA native Brendan Jaquay put the game out of reach as he scored his seventh goal of the year giving the Johnstown the 5-2 victory.
Lindgren had 23 saves on 25 shots while Hanson had 16 saves on 21 shots. Click here for the box score. The Rebels visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights tonight.
