Hat Tricks Fall in Game 2 to Thunderbirds

Winston-Salem, NC- The Danbury Hat Tricks looked for a bounce-back effort in Game Two of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Series against the Carolina Thunderbirds. They instead fell victim to a hostile crowd and Carolina offense, falling 5-1 and now two games down to the Thunderbirds in the Finals.

Jacob Ratcliffe opened the scoring 1:15 into the game and looked to have the Hat Tricks on the right path for the evening. Danbury held their lead until eight seconds remained in the frame when Gus Ford scored on a power play to tie the game before the intermission.

Ford added another goal on a power play 7:32 into the second period. Danbury then had a five-on-three power play chance but could not finish it off, missing ultimately on seven power play chances through the night.

Danbury, outshot through the first two periods 36-19, fired 11 shots on Gregg Hussey in the final stanza but could not crack the scoreboard in the final stanza. Hussey stopped 29 of 30 shots he faced. Ford added one more goal for a hat trick. Jiri Pestuka and Viktor Grebenikov added empty net goals to cap the scoring at 5-1.

Brian Wilson stopped 44 shots in the Danbury net.

The Thunderbirds lead the series two-games-to-none.

Game Three of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Series is at the Danbury Ice Arena on Friday night at 7:30 PM.

Tickets are available by clicking on the link here.