One minute was all it took.
In the blink of an eye, the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks turned the game on its head and rocketed from down 2-0 to up 3-2 in the span of just 48 seconds early in the second period. A pair of goals from Jake Hewitt spurred the team on to a 4-2 victory over the Northeast Generals Thursday afternoon at Danbury Arena.
“We knew it was going to take us a little bit of time to get into the game, we had a few days off there,” said head coach Billy McCreary, acknowledging the scheduling hiccup that resulted in the postponement of three games for his squad over the weekend. “We just wanted to start as good as we can and get better as the game went on.”
Northeast capitalized on some early looks, with Dylan Schuett opening the scoring with a shot from the corner sneaking through the goalline. Liam McCanney would extend the lead for the Generals, converting on a rebound opportunity.
Mark D’Agostino jumpstarted the Danbury offense on the powerplay, striking from the point early in the second to give the Hat Tricks some life. On the following shift, Valentino Passarelli buried his second goal of the season to knot the score. Just 24 seconds later, Jake Hewitt finished off a terrific tic-tac-toe passing play to give Danbury a lead they would not relinquish.
Hewitt would find the back of the net on a breakaway to put the game out of reach. Edvard Nordlund was perfect in the second and third periods in goal, including a momentous save on a McCanney penalty shot.
“He’s a fighter,” McCreary noted of his netminder. “He gets better and better as the game goes on.”
Hewitt was energized by his team’s comeback victory, and by his two-goal debut with the Jr. Hat Tricks after being sidelined for the first month with a groin injury.
“It felt good to be back,” Hewitt smiled. “[After the first period] it was heated [in the locker room] but not heated at the same time…we knew what we had to do.”
“We just wanted to come out and get a few quick ones and just pound it.”
And quick ones, they got.
Danbury is back in action Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 1:30 p.m. as they host the division-leading Maine Nordiques at Danbury Arena.