Prowlers Claw Back to Earn a Point in Danbury

For the second straight night, the Port Huron Prowlers mounted a third-period comeback to force overtime. This time, the Danbury Hat Tricks came out on top 3-2 on Kyle Gonzalez’s game winner with 39 seconds left in the extra session.

“The mood in the locker room is awful,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “Guys are upset and it sucks to lose. The margin for error is so tiny and that’s why you have to be ready to go.”

Jonny Ruiz scored twice in the second period to make it 2-0 Hat Tricks heading into the third. The first goal came when he intercepted a home run pass in the Prowlers end and the second came off a broken play as Port Huron couldn’t clear on the penalty kill.

“It wasn’t the first 40 minutes we wanted,” Paulin said. “I thought Danbury dictated the pace and they were more physical. I was disappointed with the start we had.”

In the third, Matt Graham got the Prowlers on the board with a power play goal, poking a rebound through Connor McCollum. With just over four minutes to go, Luke James picked off a pass in the middle of the Danbury end and beat McCollum to the blocker side to send it to overtime. Port Huron out shot the Hat Tricks 16-4 in the third.

“I thought that 20 minutes was excellent,” Paulin said. “Guys really dug deep, it was winning hockey.”

Danbury controlled possession through much of the extra session. Off a scramble in front of the net, the puck popped out to Gonzalez who fired home his second game-winning goal of the season, both against the Prowlers.

Reid Cooper took the loss after making 26 saves.

Ruiz led the way with his two goals for the Hat Tricks while McCollum stopped 33 shots.

The Prowlers return home to begin a three-in-three against the Watertown Wolves on Friday, March 7 and then against the Athens Rock Lobsters on March 8 and 9. Tickets to all three games are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging