​By J. Harris

The Watertown Wolves were back in the David S. Palmer Arena to seek revenge for their loss against the Danville Dashers last night. 

Danville looked to make this a repeat of last night when Gehrett  Sargis scored less than a minute into the first period on an assist from Justin Brausen.  The Dashers killed Watertown’s first power play from a slashing minor on Joe Pace.  Sargis would extend the lead with an assist from JD Gordon at the 9-minute mark.  Watertown showed skill in killing off a Danville 5-on-3 power play from Aaron Atwell interference and Justin Alonzo’s hooking penalties.  Pace saw the box for a second time when he crosschecked Matt Wray.  Watertown’s Cody Dion seized the opportunity to close the gap with an unassisted power play goal with 4-and-a-half minutes remaining in the period.  Watertown would see one more power play in the period, but were unable to capitalize.  The Wolves ended the first period trailing by 1 and outshooting the Dashers 18-11.

Danville would extend their lead again when new Dasher Michael Hansen scored at the 3-minute mark with assist from Wahebe Darge and JD Gordon.  The Wolves and the Dashers would exchange power plays.  Watertown closed the gap again when Matt Wray assisted Justin Alonzo on a power play goal with 5-and-a-half minutes left.  Chad Bennett tied the game with assistance from Aaron Atwell and Ben Schoeneberger.  Wolf Colby Spooner gave the crowd a scare when he went down after getting a stick to the face.  He got up on his own and walked without assistance to the locker room to get checked out.  The second period would end in a 3-3 tie.  The Dashers outshot the Wolves 21-16.

Colby Spooner came back out with his team to start the third period.  Matt Wray received a slashing penalty giving Danville another advantage for scoring.  The Wolves, however, benefitted when Justin MacDonald scored a short-handed goal with an assist from Justin Alonzo. The Wolves’ lead for the first time in the game was short lived when Wahebe Darge came back a minute later and scored.   Watertown refused to let this game be a repeat of last night and scored again 30 seconds later to regain the lead with the same Alonzo-assist/MacDonald score combo.  Justin Alonzo’s tripping penalty would result in a killed power play by the Wolves.  A tangle of players would result in another Wolf going down.  This time it was newly-acquired Matt Wray.  An infuriated Chad Bennett would get a charging minor and game misconduct for going after the player suspected of causing Wray to go down.  Danville’s Michael Hanson and Watertown’s Justin Alonzo also received minor penalties.  The last two minutes of the game would be a Danville power play.  The Dashers got aggressive and removed their goalie with 90 seconds left to get another player at the scoring end of the ice.  Watertown would hold on to lead and win the game 5 to 4.

Watertown’s next game will be on Friday, December 12 against the Danbury Whalers at the Danbury Ice Arena.  The game starts at 7:35.  For media inquiries please contact the Wolves front office at 315-681-6572 or email at amcwolves@gmail.com. Fans can also keep up with the Wolves on www.WatertownWolves.net, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@hockeywatertown) and Instagram (watertown.wolves).