Written by: Rory McGouran
Photo by: Partrick Garriepy Photography
There were no faults in the system for the Northeast Generals on Saturday night as they grounded the Elmira Aviators en route to a dominating 9-0 victory to extend their point streak to seven games.
What’s most impressive for the Gens is the style in which they stormed the LeCom Events Center in Elmira. Never once cheating the game for offense, it was a systematic approach of sound defending, smooth transitional play, and aggressive forechecking combined with crisp and fast puck movement in the attacking zone that led to their largest margin of victory this season.
Their defense never broke, and their balanced offense didn’t relent, scoring three goals in each period.
Rookie netminder Keagin Wilson was confident and composed all night, securing his first career NAHL shutout, stopping all 34 shots faced.
Mikey Bartkowski finished the night with the Generals’ first hat-trick of the season and added two assists, bringing his goal total to six with 10 points in seven games.
Logan Poulin added two more goals to give him nine of the season, which leads the team and sits in second behind only Johnstown forward Nick Jarmain for the league lead.
Brayden Hudtloff added a goal and three assists. Spencer Hirsch picked up a goal and two helpers, while Kyle Murray-Smith and Cole McKenna rounded out the scoring.
In total, in a complete team effort, only six generals were held off the scoresheet.
Special teams were nearly perfect, with the penalty kill stopping all five attempts, adding in a shorthanded goal (Hirsch), and their power play combined for two goals on four attempts (Poulin, Hudtloff).
The long road stretch, which encompassed five different opponents and seven games over a month’s time, has finally come to an end. The Generals picked up a point in every single game, finishing with a 6-0-1-0 record.
At last, they will make their return home for a weekend set against the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks on October 17th and 18th.