Matt Shpungin netted a pair of goals and Jon Dukaric stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Danbury Hat Tricks snapped their three-game skid with a convincing 5–1 win over the visiting New Hampshire Mountain Kings on Friday night.
Danbury wasted no time taking control, erupting for three goals in the opening period. Kai Elkie, Jeremy Sprung, and Josh Williams each found the back of the net, while captain Brendan Boring and defenseman Kai Mencel both recorded two assists in the victory.
New Hampshire’s Cael Knutson was called for high-sticking at 3:54, giving the Hat Tricks an early power play. Just over a minute later, Danbury capitalized. As the Mountain Kings attempted to clear the zone, Matt Dabrowski intercepted the puck at center ice and carried it in on a two-on-one with Elkie. Dabrowski fed a perfect pass through the slot, and Elkie buried his eighth of the season to make it 1–0.
Sprung doubled the lead with 7:12 remaining. After the Hat Tricks dumped the puck into the offensive end, New Hampshire’s Mikhail Cherepanov retrieved it and tried to skate out of trouble. Sprung applied heavy pressure, forced the turnover, and snapped a wrist shot past Gavin Weeks’ glove for his second of the year.
Just two minutes later, Williams extended the lead to 3–0. A New Hampshire dump-in attempt took an unexpected bounce out to Williams in the high slot. He quickly moved the puck to Peter Freel, who returned the pass as Williams accelerated through center ice. Williams then cut past a defender, drove the slot, and fired home his second goal of the season.
Shpungin scored the first of his two goals at 7:02 of the second period, stretching the lead to 4–0. He added a power-play tally at 6:50 of the third—his second of the night and sixth of the season—to make it 5–0.
New Hampshire’s Tomislav Brennan scored a power-play goal with 7:33 remaining, spoiling Dukaric’s shutout but not Danbury’s dominant evening.
The Mountain Kings’ goaltending tandem combined for 30 saves on 35 shots. Click here for the full box score.