The Danbury Hat Tricks came up just short Friday night, falling 2–1 to the Maine Nordiques in a fast-paced, back-and-forth contest that featured physical play and limited scoring chances at both ends.
Maine opened the scoring late in the first period after Hat Tricks defenseman Kai Mencel was whistled for interference with 9:44 remaining. Just 49 seconds into the ensuing power play, Alex Sandhu gave the visitors a 1–0 lead. Damon Myers carried the puck into the offensive zone along the near boards before slipping a centering pass to Sandhu, who cut left and snapped a wrist shot past Hat Tricks goaltender Jon Dukaric for his eleventh goal of the season.
After a scoreless second period highlighted by strong defensive play and goaltending at both ends, the Nordiques doubled their lead 6:37 into the third. Maine’s Joe Gasperko forced a turnover along the far boards in the Hat Tricks’ zone, skated toward the corner, and fed a pass through the slot to Marshall McCharles, who buried a snap shot long side for his sixth goal of the year.
The Hat Tricks responded almost immediately. Just 17 seconds later, Jeremy Sprung cut the deficit in half with his sixth goal of the season. Mencel kept the puck alive at the far point before moving it to Peter Freel at the hash marks. Freel quickly found Brendan Boring, who threaded a backdoor pass through the crease to Sprung for the finish past Nordiques netminder Lukas Fursten.
Despite sustained pressure late and several end-to-end chances, Danbury was unable to solve Fursten again, as Maine held on for the 2–1 victory.
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