The Jamestown Ironmen edged the janesville Jets 2-1 in overtime in North American Hockey League action at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena on Friday night.
It was a physical game from the beginning and it certainly wasn't pretty, but in the end Jamestown (14-3-2) won its eighth straight home game.
Janesville (7-9-3) attempted to throw North Division leading Ironmen off their game with brute force as Jets antagonized from the opening faceoff, using their physicality to get under the skin of the home team players. It worked to some degree as the product was a ''sloppy game, according to the Ironmen head coach Dan Daikawa.
Article Photos
Luke Dietsch of the Jamestown Ironmen changes direction after Janesville goalie Brock Kautz blocks a shot in Friday night’s North American Hockey League game at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.
P-J photo by Scott Reagle
"They had a good game plan, and it put us off our game a bit,'' he said. ''Janesville was winning the little battles early on."
Both squads traded goals in the first period with Jamestown's score coming from Luc Gerdes, who leads the team with 12 goals. Assists went to Victor Johansson and Tyler Dunagan.
There was no more scoring throughout regulation, but there were plenty of penalty minutes to go around. Jamestown tallied up 33 minutes of penalty time and one game ejection on 11 whistles while the Jets wound up with 51 minutes on 11 infractions.
The undermatched Jets looked to pick a fight every chance they got and the game stood tied at 1-1 as time ran out in the third period.
The division foes headed into a 4-on-4 sudden-death overtime where Ryan Urso sealed the victory for the Ironmen with a goal 2:14 into the extra period. Assists came from Aaron Scheppelman and Dunagan.
"In the end, we figured a way to win, but you can never win as individuals," emphasized Daikawa. "If we want to continue to be successful, we have to get back on our game and execute as a team."
Despite Daikawa's criticisms, his squad has won 10 out of its last 11 games and still sits with a three-point lead atop its division.
Jamestown outshot the Jets, 37-25, and Reid Mimmack put on another clinic in net with 24 saves, improving his record on the season to 11-2.
Janesville didn't waiver from their game plan even after the contest was over, trying to scuffle with the victors after the winning goal was scored. As the Ironmen gathered at center ice to raise their sticks after another home win, Janesville had to be escorted off the ice by the officials.
That makes for a very interesting matchup today as the teams square off again at 5 p.m. at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena.