The Generals returned home to the New England Sports Village for their first home series of the month of February, splitting a two game series with the Johnstown Tomahawks. The Gens fell on Friday, Feb. 23, 4-2, before bouncing back in game two with a shootout win 4-3 on Saturday, Feb. 24.
Friday saw the Generals get the jump on the Tomahawks early, with forward Tyler Ramm burying his 10th goal of the year 11 minutes in to make it 1-0. Johnstown did not stay behind for long though, scoring 17 and 19 and a half minutes into the first to jump the Generals, making it 2-1. The Tomahawks scored twice more in the second period, eight and nine minutes in, before Northeast finally responded with a goal from forward Jake Gutwirth, his seventh of the year, to make it 4-2 after two periods. Neither team found the back of the net in the third period, keeping the final score 4-2 in the first game of the weekend.
Goaltender Peter Wickström-Stumer got the first start of the weekend, stopping 12 of the 16 shots he faced before being pulled due to injury. Goaltender Toby Hopp came in relief and stopped all 10 shots he faced. The Gens outshot Johnstown in game one 36-to-26 in the loss.
Game two saw the Generals get the jump once more, with defenseman Brendan Kimball firing a slapshot from the blue line through traffic to make it a 1-0 game, 12 minutes into the game. Johnstown responded quickly, scoring 15 and a half minutes in to make it a 1-1 tie, before taking the lead nine and a half minutes into the second period and getting an insurance goal almost 15 minutes into the second to make it 3-1. Forward Sixten Jennersjo got the Generals back on the board in the third, potting a powerplay goal seven minutes into the period to bring it 3-2. Jennersjo then found his second of the period with less than three minutes remaining to tie the hockey game up at 3-3, which stood until the final buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime saw multiple opportunities for both sides, but to no avail, resulting in a shootout. Johnstown tried and came up short on all three of their attempts, before forward Ryan Remick trickled in the winning goal in the third round of the shootout, giving the Generals the extra point in the 4-3 win.
Hopp received the start for the second night, batting away 42 of the 45 shots he faced in a high volume evening, and stopping all three shots in the shootout. Jennersjo’s two goals were his 10th and 11th of the year, while Gutwirth recorded two assists, and forward Frank D’Ancona assisted on all three goals in the game.
The Generals will stay home to start the month of March, hosting the Maine Nordiques as the playoff chasers battle for the final time in the regular season. The Generals will host Maine on Friday, March 1 at 7:00 PM EST, before ending the weekend with a matchup on Saturday, March 2, at 2:00 PM EST.