PHN’s Best Shots of the Game; Dayton falls 3-2

DAYTON, OHIO – Dayton was on a four-game winning streak, just needing to take care of business to pick up the final playoff spot. Danville on the other hand needed to create some distance from Port Huron for the chance to have home advantage in the FHL Semi-Finals. With a pair of goals in the first 3:30 of the game and an unassisted tally off a turnover, it was the Dashers with the win 3-2.

In the 1st Period, Danville struck quick on Dayton’s starter Jo St. Pierre. For the first goal, it was Justin Brausen anchoring down low from Cole Hutchinson and Ray Tremblay. Brausen, who came in second in the entire league with 41 goals scored, found the slow pass from Hutchinson on the near face-off circle for the first tally at the 1:41 mark. Just under two minutes later, Danville struck again with a Gehrett Sargis bury from Brent Clarke and Brad Denney. Sargis struck on a top-shelf attack from the far face-off circle, netting his fifteenth score of the season. Danville had the momentum throughout the first, despite allowing Dayton to pound twelve shots on starting goalie Dalton McGrath. The Dashers had a 2-0 lead after one.

In the second frame, things were starting to look up for Dayton with the opportunities on McGrath. At 5:49 in the period, a loose puck off a couple shots found its way in front of Robert VanWynsberghe for the first Dayton goal of the game. VanWynsberghe notched his 10th goal in Dayton with assists from the Sons of Hockey Star of the Week Michael Dolman and Martin Uhnak. With the initial pressure from the Dayton forwards, VanWynsberghe cut the deficit in half with his 16th blast of the year. Three minutes and nine seconds later, some miscommunication behind the goal line led to a Derrick Schwartz rip and shoot, giving Danville another two goal lead. Schwartz, unassisted, took control of a loose puck and went top shelf on St. Pierre to increase the lead once again. It turned out to be a big goal that the Dashers needed, heading back to the locker rooms up 3-1.

In the third period, Dayton went to work quickly. Ryan Timar scored his third goal of the year with a second chance boot, with Cory Giroux and Jacques Lamoureux directing the passing. Timar had a shot off of McGrath, which came back to the forward and allowing Dayton that much closer to tying things up. Despite offering fourteen more chances in the period and with a major power play on their side, the home team was unable to tie the game. Danville came away with a 3-2 victory.

Danville improved to 32-15-6 and 10-4-2 in the series with Dayton, who fell to 21-27-5. St. Pierre suffered his seventh loss on the year with a 23-save performance. McGrath tallied his seventh win with 38 saves. Robert VanWynsberghe took the third star of the game with the first Dayton score on the night, with Ryan Timar scoring the second star with the last goal of the game. Derrick Schwartz scored the top star with his first game winning goal on the year.