Captain Brendan Boring scored twice and Luke Brassil turned aside 20 of 22 shots to power the Danbury Hat Tricks to a 4–2 victory over the New Jersey Titans in Wednesday’s matinee at the Danbury Ice Arena.
The win gives Danbury 52 points, tying them with both the Titans and the Northeast Generals in the standings. It also marked the Rabbits’ second straight victory, their fourth in the last five games, and seventh in their past ten.
Peter Freel opened the scoring late in the first period. With 5:33 remaining, Freel stripped Ryan Murphy just outside the New Jersey zone, skated to the far-side faceoff dot and snapped a wrist shot past Tyler Rounds long side for his ninth goal of the season.
After a scoreless second period, the game erupted in a back-and-forth third.
Hudson Slenker tied it 7:07 into the final frame, jamming home a loose puck in the crease for his sixth of the year. But Danbury answered quickly. Just over a minute later, Matt Dabrowski carried the puck in along the near boards and dropped it to Kai Elkie, who threaded a backdoor pass through the slot to Boring for a redirect that restored the lead.
Tanner Terranova extended the advantage to 3–1 with 7:43 to play. Kai Mencel intercepted a pass at center ice and fed Elkie on the left wing. Elkie crossed the blue line and slid a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Terranova in the slot, and he buried his 11th of the season.
Joe Pocrnic made it interesting with 2:33 remaining, catching Brassil leaning and tucking a short-side shot home to cut the deficit to one.
Boring sealed the win with 1:38 left when he was pulled down from behind on a break toward an empty net and was awarded the goal, capping his two-goal performance.
Rounds finished with 25 saves on 28 shots in the loss. Click HERE for the complete box score.
The Hat Tricks now shift their focus to a two-game series against the Maine Nordiques, beginning a stretch in which their next three series will be played on the road.