Danbury Stays Alive, Fend Off Aces in 4-3 Overtime Win

After Danbury’s Chad Jones scored 57 seconds into overtime to give his team a 4-3 win and both the Brooklyn Aces and Mad Hatters skated off the ice last night, Blues Traveler’s “The Hook,” was the first song to play over the PA system at Aviator.

A more fitting song would have been the Bee Gee’s classic, “Stayin’ Alive,” as with the win, Danbury finds themselves just four points behind the New Jersey Rockhoppers with two games left for the final playoff spot in the league.

As for Brooklyn, a tune much more subdued would have done the trick as the Aces failed to put the nail in the coffin of a Danbury team that they may have to face in the playoffs.

“We should have won that game,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo, who was visibly irate after the game. “They outplayed us in the first period, but I felt like we dominated them in the second and were the better team in the third. There’s no reason why they should have won this game. The puck bounced their way a few times and we made a few mistakes.”

Despite the exciting finish to the game, the first half of the first period was quiet offensively as both teams mustered a combined six shots on goal through the first ten minutes. Things began to change at the 11:50 mark of the first period when Drew Madeiros lit the lamp from the top of the left circle, giving Danbury an early 1-0 lead. Things could have been much worse however, but Brooklyn was able to kill a 1:11 five on three, keeping the score locked at 1-0.

After failing to get shots on goal and earning a mouthful from Firriolo from the bench, Aces defenseman Doug Hoffman got a shot on from the point the bounced right to an awaiting Kyle McCullough, who promptly deposited it in the back of the net at 5:49, tying the game at 1-1.

At 11:41, Brooklyn garnered their first lead of the night after McCullough tallied again, this time on a vicious wrister from the right circle.

“This was playoff hockey,” said McCullough. “I thought overall we played well, but those breakdowns really hurt us. Over the past month, we’ve done that and it’s something we have to cut down on.”

The third period proved to be an interesting one, as the Aces lost the lead in the third on what appeared to be a harmless Jonathan Lounsbury wrist shot from the point that made it through traffic at 7:16 of the third and tied the game at 2-2.

Things continued to go Danbury’s way in the period after Erik Kent blew an absolute howitzer past Aces goaltender Miro Recicar at 5:14 and giving the Hatters a late 3-2 advantage.

“It was a bad goal,” said Firriolo. “He should have had that one.”

The Aces did have an opportunity to get back in the game shortly thereafter, earning a powerplay on a Dan Hickman roughing penalty. Tony Resendes then answered the call, scoring on the powerplay to tie the game with 3:40 left.

Despite the upgraded intensity resulting from the goal, neither team came through over the final 220 seconds and the game went into overtime.

Just 57 seconds into the extra period however, Jones scored after skating around the net and two Aces defenders, to only find himself with an abundance of room in between the bottom of the circles and firing a shot that found the back of the net and gave his team another day to fight for their playoff lives.

Angered with the loss, the Aces believe they are still confident going into the playoffs and don’t mind that New Jersey’s and Danbury’s last game of the season may determine their opponent this post-season.

“We wanted to win tonight,” said Aces forward Jesse Felten. “It was a tough loss. We’d like to see New Jersey in the playoffs, but if it’s Danbury, we know we can beat them too.”

Notes-

Chris Holmes was a healthy scratch and is expected to play tomorrow against New Jersey.

Danbury outshot the Aces 14-6 in the first period, but Brooklyn ended up only being outshot 37-35.

Attendance for the game was 1,111.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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