Austin Michaud recorded a goal and an assist, while Luke Melnik and Peter Freel also found the back of the net as the Danbury Hat Tricks skated to a 3–1 win over the visiting Northeast Generals on Friday afternoon at the Danbury Ice Arena.
Goaltender Jon Dukaric was outstanding between the pipes, turning aside 32 of 33 shots to earn his sixth win of the season.
The matchup was a physical, penalty-filled affair, featuring 15 infractions totaling 70 minutes combined between the two teams.
Melnik opened the scoring just 1:29 into the contest. After Matt Shpungin cleared the puck high from behind his own net, Melnik tracked it down past the Northeast defense and broke in alone on goaltender Keagin Wilson, slipping a shot through the five-hole for his fourth goal of the season.
The Generals evened the score midway through the second period on a power play, when former Hat Trick Andrew Gibbons capitalized on a backdoor feed that narrowly beat Dukaric’s glove.
In the third, Michaud restored the lead at 4:40. Matt Dabrowski corralled a loose puck at center ice, cut toward the boards, and fed Michaud in stride. The veteran forward rifled a wrist shot from the faceoff dot that beat Wilson high glove-side for his second of the season.
With the Generals’ net empty late in regulation, Freel sealed the win at 18:54 with a calm finish into the open cage to make it 3–1.
Wilson finished with 39 saves on 42 shots in the loss. Click HERE for the complete box score.