Kai Mencel scored his fourth goal of the season, but the Danbury Hat Tricks fell 7–1 to the Rochester Jr. Americans on Friday night at Rochester Ice Arena.
Rochester seized control of the game in the second period, scoring four times in the middle frame to turn a one-goal contest into a comfortable lead.
The Jr. Americans opened the scoring just 2:07 into the game when William Penyoer fired a shot from the near-side faceoff circle that handcuffed Hat Tricks goaltender Jon Dukaric and slipped past him long side for Penyoer’s first goal of the season.
Rochester doubled its lead late in the opening period. With 3:35 remaining, Shane Rolston sent a centering pass from along the end wall to Lukas Bellinger in the slot, where Bellinger snapped a wrist shot past Dukaric for his eighth goal of the year.
Danbury responded quickly.
Just 29 seconds later, Gavin Burke started the play from the top of the near-side zone and moved the puck to Kai Elkie near the goal line to the left of the Rochester net. Elkie delivered a pass to the slot where Kai Mencel redirected the puck past Rochester goaltender Florian Wade, cutting the deficit to 2–1.
However, momentum shifted early in the second period when Mencel was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing along with a game misconduct, giving Rochester an extended power-play opportunity.
The Jr. Americans capitalized quickly.
Sam Schulte scored less than a minute into the advantage, ripping a wrist shot from the near-side faceoff circle past Dukaric’s short side to restore Rochester’s two-goal lead at 3–1.
Moments later, Brendan Giles made it 4–1 after collecting a rebound that caromed off the end wall following a shot that missed the net. Positioned to the side of Dukaric, Giles buried the loose puck for his seventh goal of the season.
Rochester continued to build on its lead as Keanan Dewberry, Adam Gionta, and Murray Kanvera each found the back of the net to push the score to 7–1.
Hat Tricks netminders combined to stop 29 of Rochester’s 36 shots, while Florian Wade turned aside 19 of Danbury’s 20 shots in the victory. Click HERE for the complete box score.