On an afternoon where the road team looked to be very hard to read, Mike Fazio and his Springfield Jr. Blues once again defeated adversity--as well as the Johnstown Tomahawks.
Fazio scored the game-winning goal with just under two minutes remaining, Ryan Kellenberger played a perfect third-period inbetween the pipes, and the visiting team capped off a two-goal deficit with four goals in the final twenty minutes of the contest to mark the Jr. Blues' fourth straight win with a 6-4 victory over division-foe Johnstown in a North American Hockey League regular season game inside the Cambria County War Memorial on Sunday afternoon.
The Jr. Blues got off to a 2-1 lead following the first twenty minutes of the game as both Ryan Atkinson (James McGing-14:06) and Trevor Stone (Mike Fazio, Terry Leabo-14:25) lit up the scoring lamp after Andrew McDonald (Connor Wright, Zack Wallace-4:52) scored the games first goal of the contest just under five minutes in.
Johnstown wasn't intimidated though as they showed it in the second period. Trailing 2-1 to start the second, the Tomahawks netted three goals and held the visiting Jr. Blues scoreless. Connor Wright scored two goals of his own in the period while Mitch Kontny added one of his own--giving Johnstown a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
As the Jr. Blues trailed by two goals heading into the third and had their three-game winning streak hanging in the balance, nothing has been proven to phase these guys when adversity is in their face. The team answered it with four goals in the period, as Mike Severson scored at the 9:19 mark to make it 4-3. Less than three minutes later, Devin Mitchell tied it up at 4 each as he scored on a one-timer off sticks of both Oliver Takasci-Nagy and Severson at the 12:08 mark.
With the game tied and two minutes remaining, Fazio found the back of the net as both Nate Chasteen and Terry Leabo assisted him. The goal came at the 18:10 mark and presumably led the team to their fourth straight win. Chasteen followed it up with an empty-net goal of his own with 1:02 remaining, giving Springfield a 6-4 lead and ultimately our final score for the game.
The Jr. Blues out-shot the Tomahawks 27-25 and are starting to make a climb in the North division standings as they have now won four straight games in a row.
Starting goalie Ryan Kellenberger recieved the win as he saved 21-of-25 Johnstown shots and improved his record to 3-5-0 in eight starts. As for Collin Brennan, who started in net for the home team, stopped 21-of-26 shots but seen his record fall to 2-2-1 in five appearances.
The Jr. Blues improved their record to 8-8-2 (18 points) and jumped over Janesville for sixth in the North division. The team will head home next weekend to start a four-game home stand as they will host the second-place Soo Eagles on both Friday and Saturday night at 7 inside the Nelson Center.
Official Scoring Summary
First Period-(JHN) Andrew McDonald (Connor Wright, Zack Wallace) 4:52; (SPR) Ryan Atkinson (James McGing) 14:06; (SPR) Trevor Stone (Mike Fazio, Terry Leabo) 14:25
Second Period-(JHN) Connor Wright (Jesse Kessler) 10:27; Mitch Kontny (unassisted) 13:00; Connor Wright (unassisted) 19:09
Third Period-(SPR) Mike Severson (Oliver Takacsi-Nagy, Devin Mitchell) 9:19; (SPR) Devin Mitchell (Oliver Takacsi-Nagy, Mike Severson) 12:08; (SPR) Mike Fazio (Nate Chasteen, Terry Leabo) 18:10; (SPR) Nate Chasteen (empty-net) (Mike Fazio, Trevor Stone) 18:58
Three Stars of the Game (Official from the Stadium)
1. Mike Fazio (Springfield)
2. Connor Wright (Johnstown)
3. Nick Anderson (Springfield)
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