Hat Tricks Finish Dashers Late (2/7)

Danbury, CT - Sick and tired of the losing streak hanging over their heads, the Dashers traveled to the east coast looking to end a historic slide. Despite a pair of first period goals from Bo Zinchenko and 45 saves from Oscar Wahlgren, the Dashers couldn’t find the will to win against a 4 point night from Gleb Bandurkin and the rest of the Hat Tricks who pulled away late to win 5-2.

With sole ownership of the losing streak dangling, the Dashers knew they had to play their best game of the season against a tough Hat Tricks squad who returns home with a 4 game winning streak. Danbury came out flying to begin period 1, controlling the zone for just about the entirety of the first 8 minutes. To cap off that pressure, Cory Anderson found Gleb Bandurkin in front for an easy tally to open the scoring at 1-0. However, the Dashers sense of urgency seemed to increase after the opening goal. Less than 3 minutes later, former Hat Trick and current Dasher winger Bo Zinchenko collected a turnover in the offensive zone. After a hard shot on net, Zinchenko swatted the rebound over the shoulder of McCollum to tie the game at 1. But Bo wouldn’t be done yet. 3 minutes later, he made a great 1 on 1 move against Bedard to create some space and this time sniped bar-down with a great wrist shot to give his squad the advantage at 2-1. Danbury had a handful of chances in the final 5 but Oscar Wahlgren stood tall to take his team to the break up a goal. Shots were 15-7 Hat Tricks at the conclusion of the first 20.

Period 2 the Dashers seemed to come out a bit flat. The game through 2 periods did not feature too much physical play and just 3 minor penalties, with no one cashing in on special teams. The Hat Tricks were firing on all cylinders, outshooting the Dashers 13-2 through the first half of the frame. Across the midway point is when the Dashers once again began to play to their tempo and create some scoring opportunities the other way, but Danbury continued to counter every Dasher chance with two of their own. In the final 10 minutes of the period, the Dashers and Hat Tricks combined for just 6 shots on goal. The one that would count came in the final 3 minutes. Off a good hard feed from Bedard, Cory Anderson snapped a quick shot to the far post over Wahlgren’s shoulder to tie the game at 2. The shots finalized at 32-13 through 2 frames, in favor of the home team. 

20 minutes to snap the slide. The question being would the Dashers have it in them to turn it on late. The first 10 minutes seemed to be an even battle, with both teams turning it on in the physical department. Bodies were flying everywhere with a couple brief fights that left both sides eager to get the next tally. The Dashers had their chances, with Brausen, Murphy, and Siewertsen all being denied on grade A opportunities. The deadlock would break with Jacob Ratcliffe snapping home a shot from the point off a beautiful Vasilyev feed with just over 6 minutes to go. The 3-2 game slipped away when Kim Miettinen took a penalty moments after the ensuing faceoff that led to a Gleb Bandurkin power play goal, his second of the night to make it 4-2. An empty netter from Frolov served as the dagger as the Dashers fell 5-2, being outshot 50-28 in the full 60.

The Hat Tricks improve their winning streak to 5 games, with points in their last 8, the longest streak they’ve had all year. On the other side, the Dashers are now the sole holders of the longest losing streak in professional hockey history at 29 games. They will once again seek to snap the skid tomorrow night at 6:00 CST right back inside the Danbury ice Arena.