Mitch Emerson netted a hat trick to lead the Trenton Golden Hawks over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, 5-2.

Trenton pulled out the victory even though it was hit with 15 penalty minutes.

The Golden Hawks forced Buffalo's goalies to work all game long, taking 31 shots and forcing 26 saves. Brian Kowalski made 16 stops and Tucker Weppner made 10.

Trenton also got points from Adam Clements, who also had one goal and one assist. Kevin Lavoie also scored for Trenton. More assists for Trenton came via Lucas Brown, who had one and Danny Hanlon and Hunter Fargey, who each chipped in two.

The Jr. Sabres put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Trenton to score on any of its three power plays. Buffalo did not reach the goal total it has come to expect this season. The Jr. Sabres average 4.1 goals per game.

Buffalo was helped by Griffin Lunn, who racked up one goal. Lunn scored 15:21 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Buffalo. Ryan Wheeler picked up the assist. Buffalo additionally got points from Tim Nicksic, who also registered one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. In addition, Buffalo received assists from Wilson Vershay and Zach Evancho, who contributed one each.

The Golden Hawks' Daniel Urbani stopped 19 shots out of the 21 that he faced. Trenton ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Chays Ruddy was ejected from the game. The Jr. Sabres totaled 11 minutes in penalty time with three minors and one major and went 1-for-6 on the power play. For Buffalo, Evan Bennett was ejected from the game.