The Generals were on the road to end the month of November, traveling to New Hampshire to visit the Mountain Kings on Wednesday, Nov. 22, before traveling further north to take on the Maine Nordiques for a weekend series sweep on Saturday, Nov. 25, and Sunday, Nov. 26.
New Hampshire jumped ahead first on Thanksgiving eve in the first period, before forward Jiri Pospisil scored his first of the season to tie it at 1-1 after one. The Mountain Kings responded in the second early, before forwards Ben Campeau and Jake Gutwirth gave the Generals a 3-2 lead. New Hampshire mounted the comeback in the third, finding two in the period to give them a 4-3, which stood as the final in the Generals first loss to New Hampshire this season.
Forwards Jake Gutwirth and Brendon Wolesky both recorded multi-point games, with Gutwirth scoring a goal and an assist, while Wolesky tallied two assists. Goaltender Peter Wickström Stumer stopped 26 of 30 shots in the loss.
The Generals made the journey even further north on Saturday, where neither team found the scoring sheet until late in the first, where the two teams traded goals till the first buzzer ended, with the Nordiques ahead 3-2. The teams traded goals again before the Generals tied the game at four-a-piece after the second. The second and third placed teams in the East traded a set of goals a piece in the third, with Maine scoring with 29 seconds remaining, to send the game to overtime at 6-6 after the final regulation buzzer. It took almost all of overtime, but with 53 seconds remaining in overtime, forward and recent Army Black Knight commit Joseph McGraw potted the game winner to start the weekend in the win column, 7-6.
Forwards Sixten Jennersjo and Campeau, as well as defenseman Nick Recupero, all put up three point performances in the high scoring affair, with Jennersjo and Campeau finding two goals each. Goaltender Toby Hopp saved 48 of 54 shots in the extra time victory.
Game two of the weekend saw the Generals jump ahead late in the first, thanks to Gutwirth to make it 1-0 after one. Forward Frank D’Ancona potted a powerplay goal, his 13th goal of the year, to jump ahead 2-0. With under a minute-and-a-half remaining in the second, Gutwirth extended the lead to 3-0 with his second of the game. Northeast fought off Maine for the rest of the contest, walking away with the shutout and sweep of the second placed Nordiques.
Gutwirth led the game in points with his two goals, while Jennersjo and D’Ancona led in shots with four apiece. Wickström Stumer got the shutout victory, stopping all 34 shots he faced in the win.
The Generals enter the month of December continuing on the road, traveling to Danbury to take on the Hat Tricks for a two-game series on Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2. The team then travels home a week later for a series against the New Jersey Titans on Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9.
(Photo of Jake Gutwirth [above] courtesy of Patrick Garriepy)