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The Fresno Monsters wanted to break out of their
losing streak and Johnstown wanted to pad their stranglehold on fourth place in
the North Division.
Fresno would end up breaking out of the slump by
notching a 3-2 shootout victory at the War Memorial.
"We never had it
tonight," said Tomahawks head coach Jason Spence. "We let them back in the
game. We got to play better than that to win."
Johnstown opened the
scoring just 2:01 into the first period with a Cobi Smith-Mass goal. His goal
from the slot was his fourth of the season and Cody Boyd picked up the assist.
Andrew McDonald added
to the Tomahawks lead midway through the first, scoring his first goal in 11
games. The reunited McDonald, Zack Wallace and Connor Wright line factored in
on the goal.
From there, Fresno took
over the game.
Matt Salituro, who was
acquired months ago from the Janesville Jets, scored a power-play goal and
later added a highlight reel goal in the second period.
"He creates a ton of
offense," said Monsters head coach Eric Ballard. "It was imperative we added
some depth and he's done magnificent."
Fresno did a number of
things to frustrate the Tomahawks and keep themselves in the game.
"They had good puck
possession," Spence said. "They took the opportunities when they had them and
got behind our defensemen."
Johnstown and Fresno
traded chances in the third period but the game went into overtime and then
eventually a shootout.
Newton Fuller and
Mitchell Snyder put the puck past netminder Chris Truehl.
Cody Gylling scored in
the shootout for the Tomahawks, who missed an opportunity to tie the shootout
earlier because a Mitch Hall error.
Hall lost an edge and
fell during his shootout attempt, which proved to be a turning point in the
shootout.
Tomas Sholl made 30
saves for the Monsters and earned sixth win of the season.
"We have the ability to
come from behind because no one has been down more than us," said Eric Ballard.
"The turning point was us continuing to weather the storm. It was about us
weathering the storm and coming out on top."
Fresno and Johnstown
face each other for the final time Saturday at the War Memorial.
Spence added that he
wants he team to bring more energy and be the first on pucks.
"We need to have more,"
Spence said.
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