JOHNSTOWN, Pa – While most people were thinking of eating turkey with family and friends and shopping for bargains at the local malls over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Johnstown Chiefs were spreading their own version of holiday cheer with the rest of the ECHL.
With division rivals such as the Wheeling Nailers and the perennial ECHL 
power Florida Everblades coming to town for the first time in team history, the Chiefs wanted to show why they deserved to be called the best team in the league at this point in the season.
PHN correspondents Courtney Schilling and Brian Mechling took in the action and gave us a first hand account of this weekends action.
The Wheeling Nailers faced off against one of their fierce division rivals, the Johnstown Chiefs on Thanksgiving Eve at Wesbanco Arena.
In an action-packed game, the Chiefs took their third straight win by defeating the Nailers 3 – 1.
Andy Sarauer took the Chiefs to an early lead, scoring on a pair of first period goals, and a dominant Chiefs defense kept the Nailers scoreless in the first period. The Nailers upped the intensity in the second, outshooting the Chiefs 13-4 with Tommy Goebel converting on a power play.
Despite a penalty-laden game, both teams managed to score only once on power plays. After Goebel’s goal and some strong goaltending from Kris Mayotte, who had 33 saves on 34 shots, Sarauer sealed the game for the Chiefs with his third goal of the game in the third period.
The three stars of the game were: Andrew Sarauer – JHN (1), Kris Mayotte – JHN (2), and Ryan Del Monte – JHN (3)
On Sunday at Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, the Florida Everblades and Johnstown Chiefs met for the first time ever. The top two teams in the American Conference’s ECHL South and North divisions met, with both teams coming off Friday night losses. It was an exciting game that ended in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss for the Chiefs as the Everblades eked out a goal with 33 seconds remaining in overtime.
Both teams came out hard in the first period. The Chiefs were pushing to score first in order to put pressure on Florida. In games where the Chiefs are winning or tied at the end of the first period, Johnstown is 11-2-0 this season. After a few minutes, it became evident that these were two very evenly matched teams.
Penalties were evenly split during the first period, but at 15:32 in the first period, the Everblades were the first to take advantage of the power play with Peter Metcalf skating his way around the Chiefs’
Kyle Bushee for a high glove side goal. Shortly after, Jacob Micflikier attempted to scrabble the puck past the Chiefs’ Mayotte at the goal but was shut down. The period ended with the Everblades’ 
Luke Beaverson in the penalty box for roughing after a scuffle with Mike Knight in front of the Everblades’ net.
Down a goal at the start of the second period, the Chiefs started to rough up the Everblades within the first minute of play and continued throughout the rest of the period. With the Chiefs spending so much time in the penalty box, Florida handily outshot Johnstown 25-8.
Still, the Everblades’ dominance was not reflected on the scoreboard until Ernie Hartlieb scored Florida’s second goal on the board at
7:09 with an assist from Micflikier to give the Everblades a 2-0 lead.
The Chiefs’ Peter Pohl gave his team their first goal of the night at
8:52 with assists from Contois and Bushee, but the Chiefs missed out on a key opportunity to even the score when a penalty ended a promising breakaway by Randy Rowe.
While the third period did not start off promisingly for the Chiefs, with two men in the box five minutes into the period, Peter Metcalf scored his second goal of the game at 7:06 with assists from Kevin Baker and Danick Bouchard. Halfway through the period, Johnstown started shutting Florida down–with Beaverson and Micflickier in the penalty box, Andy Contois capitalized on the power play at 11:51 to cut Florida’s lead to 3-2.
Shortly after, Rowe nearly managed to get another goal past the Everblades’ goaltender, Anton Khudobin, with a shot that sliced across the front of the net. The Chiefs didn’t pull through on the remainder of the power play. Kris Mayotte got some help from Trevor Hendrikx, who 
deflected a key shot late in the period, and from Mike Knight who broke up a two player rush on the net.
With one minute left in the game and trailing the Everblades 3-2, the Chiefs pulled Mayotte from the goal and pressed Florida hard. It paid off in a big way, with Peter Pohl tying the game with 33 seconds remaining.
During overtime, Chiefs fans were on the edge of their seats. There were several moments when the game tilted to either side. Contois had an early break away 20 seconds in but couldn’t shove one past Khudobin, who later bobbled a save on a shot by Bushee.
Florida’s Colin Nicholson caught a puck that rebounded off the boards and tried to force it in, only to be shut down by Mayotte. Yannick Tifu made an attempt on goal as well only to be foiled on a spectacular glove save by Mayotte. Still, there is only so much one man can do against the onslaught of Florida’s offense.
Doug O’Brien became the hero of the game by slicing a shot that looked as if it may have bounced off Mayotte’s glove and with only 33 seconds left in overtime and handed the Chiefs their second loss in a row.
The three stars of the game were: Doug O.Brien – FL (1), Peter Metcalf – FL (2), and Kris Mayotte – JHN (3)
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While the Chiefs might have lost the game, they earned Florida’s respect, and with it, the rest of the ECHL’s. The season is long, but one has to wonder if the meeting of two of the ECHL’s current powers will be a preview of the American Conference finals. If that happens, it will surely be a great series, if the meeting between the two teams was any indication.
Contact the author at courtney.schilling@prohockeynews.com.
Contact the photographer at brian.mechling@prohockeynews.com.
