GAME RECAP: Danbury falls 5-4 to Blue Ridge in crucial Game 1 of fourth-seed showdown

The Danbury Hat Tricks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period but could not hold off the Blue Ridge Bobcats, falling 5-4 in Game 1 of this weekend’s fourth-seed showdown. With the loss, the Hat Tricks now sit six points behind Blue Ridge and outside the playoff picture.

After a strong first shift by the Bobcats, Hat Tricks forward Maxim Maziarchuk opened the scoring 55 seconds into the game to put Danbury up 1-0. Maziarchuk now has three goals in five games with the Hat Tricks.

As a result of a great forecheck by Danbury’s Kaiden Kandereka, forward Jordon Kromm scored for the second consecutive game against his former team to increase the Hat Tricks’ lead to 2-0 at 11:54.

Despite the 2-0 Danbury advantage, the Bobcats dominated the shot chart throughout the opening period, converting on a pair in the final 10 minutes. At 10:21, Blue Ridge captain Daniel Martin muscled the puck past Hat Tricks goaltender Kyle Penton to cut Danbury’s lead to 2-1.

Bobcats forward Nicholas Stuckless tied the game at 2-2 on a tic-tac-toe power-play passing sequence at 4:46.

In the second period, Blue Ridge forward Brandon Reller added to his team-leading 33 points, scoring on a one-timer on the power play at 14:28 to give the Bobcats a 3-2 lead.

Danbury’s league-worst power play continued to struggle in the middle frame, failing to convert after a tripping call on Reller. By contrast, Blue Ridge, which already had two power-play goals, struck again two minutes later when Stuckless scored his second of the night to make it 4-2 Bobcats.

At 3:06, Blue Ridge forward Nikita Kozyrev put a wrist shot over Penton’s shoulder to extend the Bobcats’ lead to 5-2.

In the third period, the Hat Tricks got back on the board when forward Genaro Fronduto scored on a rebound off an Austin Pickford point shot to make it 5-3 at 16:09. Danbury’s climb back continued at 12:31, when Kromm found a loose puck in front of Blue Ridge goaltender Anthony Shrum and scored to make it a one goal game at 5-4.

Despite late efforts by Danbury, which pulled Penton for an extra attacker in the final minute and nearly cut the shot deficit to 10, the 5-4 score held.

The Hat Tricks will look to pull within three points of the Bobcats, who hold the final playoff spot, when the teams meet Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Game 2 of the weekend series.