BRYANT: DEJÁ VÚ: PROWLERS STEAL OT WIN FOR SECOND NIGHT
BY: Casey Bryant, Danbury Hat Tricks DANBURY, CT - How ironic that a Matt Robertson goal in overtime would secure him a hat trick and put the dagger for the second consecutive night to the Danbury Hat Tricks to the visiting Port Huron Prowlers, in a 4-3 loss before 881 at the Danbury Ice Arena on Saturday. It must have seemed like deja vu for the Hat Tricks as they had in their opener the night before, they once again sprung to an early lead as defender Steve Mele made a marvelous move from the point, maneuvered his way along the perimeter to the goal line and roofed a wrister past Chris Paulin just 2:28 into the contest. The score stayed that way until with just fifty seconds remaining in the period The Prowlers answered, as Robertson scored the first of what would be three goals on the night. In the second period, both teams struggled to stay out of the penalty box as both were hit with a myriad of penalties allowing them to trade powerplay goals. Port Huron's Austin Fetterly buried a shot from between the hash-marks at 9:06, only to be countered by a net-front scramble that led to a tally from Cory Anderson at 17:14. Despite being tagged with five penalties in the second period alone, Danbury escaped tied 2-2. But staying out of the box continued to be a Danbury issue in the third period, but Vladyslav Gavrik managed to give the Hat Tricks the lead with a terrific physical shift on the man advantage at 11:40. On the ensuing faceoff, Anderson shoved the Prowlers' Matt Graham earning himself a roughing minor. It took just 40 seconds for Port Huron to make them pay when Robertson struck again on the powerplay. Anderson was called for a roughing minor at 15:28 and on the resulting penalty kill, Kyle Gonzalez took a roughing call at 16:02 putting Danbury down two players for 1:26. Despite playing an extended 5-on-3 the Hat Tricks penalty killers held and the Prowlers were unable to capitalize. Danbury survived to get to overtime, but once again would be unable to close it out. In extra time, Nicola Levesque rifled a shot on Paulin that sailed wide of the net. The puck rattled around the glass and sprung Port Huron for a rush the other direction. Robertson planted himself in front of the net and sheathed the dagger, earning the hat trick and the victory. "We've got to be better," head coach Billy McCreary said. "We want to be physical. We want to compete. It's encouraging to take these guys to overtime on back-to-back nights, but there are some things we want to clean up going forward." The Hat Tricks take their show on the road next weekend, visiting the Danville Dashers. Read the full article