Danbury Tops Elmira in First Ever Meeting

Danbury, CT- In front of a jam-packed crowd on Veterans Day, the Danbury Hat Tricks kept their home record perfect in their first meeting with the Elmira Mammoth. They did so with a dominant first and third period while the pace dipped in the second frame. 

Danbury opened the scoring 1:34 into the game when Jonny Ruiz, deked around a defender and roofed a puck over Mammoth goalie Trevor Micucci. Just 46 seconds later, Tristan Mock pumped a highlight, spin-o-rama goal in net for the 2-0 lead. Gordie Bonnell ended the first period scoring fun with his first goal of the season at the 8:30 mark of the frame to make the game 3-0 at intermission. The 3-0 outburst chased starting goaltender Trevor Micucci from the net and put Thomas Proudlock in his stead. 

The scoring fun continued with Dustin Jesseau potting the first of his two goals 28 seconds into the second stanza. 

The remainder of the frame belonged to Elmira’s Parker Moskal, who recorded a hat trick with goals at 4:32, 12:09, and 12:44 of the frame. The last two goals came on an extended power play for the Mammoth. Moskal also recorded an assist on Tate Leeson’s goal which came eight seconds after Jesseau’s goal early in the second stanza. Moskal’s rampage was broken up by Gordie Bonnel’s second goal of the night on the power play which kept the Hat Tricks in the lead into the second intermission. 

The game turned on the Hat Tricks penalty kill that straddled the second and third period. Xavier Abdella, playing in his first game in Danbury, took a double minor for high sticking late in the second. His teammates killed off the remaining power play time and cranked the offense after Elmira’s chance to tie the game went by the wayside. Dustin Jesseau scored his second goal of the game at the six-minute mark. Only 1:30 later, Dmitry Kuznetsov picked off a Mammoth pass and deposited the puck in Elmira’s net for his third goal in three games since returning to Hat City. Brendan Sheehan ended the night’s scoring off nifty passing from Jesseau and Richards at the 11:52 mark. Danbury muscled through a few messy points to end the scoring at 8-4 and improve to 6-0-1 on the season, including a perfect 5-0 on home ice. 

Elmira drops to 0-8-1, still looking for the franchise’s first victory.

Brian Wilson stopped 20 of 24 shots in net for the Hat Tricks. 

After entering, Thomas Proudlock stopped 20 of 25 shots on net. 

Dustin Jesseau recorded a two goal, two assist night for four points and 18 points on the young season through the first five games of the Scarborough native’s pro hockey career. 

Jonny Ruiz added three points, including a goal. Luke Richards notched three assists as well for the Hat Tricks. 

The teams rematch on Saturday night at 7 PM at the Danbury Ice Arena. Saturday night will feature appearances from Steve Hanson and Doug the Thug in downtown Hat City.