Sunday Wrap-Up: Watt, Gylling lead Tomahawks past Kalamazoo
Johnstown 6 @ Kalamazoo 2 – In the lone NAHL game on Sunday, Jordan Watt scored goals 1:48 apart late in the 1st period to erase an early deficit, and Cody Gylling started and ended a run of four unanswered Johnstown goals to cap off a four-point game as the Tomahawks beat Kalamazoo, 6-2, Sunday afternoon. Goaltender Chris Truehl made 41 saves in his first start since Oct. 13.
The Jr. K-Wings jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 17:14 of the first period when Taylor Burden scored his fourth goal of the season off a Johnstown turnover, but the lead was short-lived thanks to Watt and Gylling, who drew assists on both Watt goals.
Working one-on-one, Watt turned Kalamazoo defenseman Donovan Gardiner inside out in the left circle and then fired a shot past goaltender Alex Okicki to tie the game just 48 seconds after Burden’s goal, and Watt gave Johnstown its first lead with just 10 seconds left in the period.
Kalamazoo tied the game on a power-play goal by Danny Hamburg at 13:50. But the Tomahawks again answered quickly, as Gylling converted the rebound of a Casey Nelson shot just 1:13 later to restore the Johnstown lead on the power play.
Zack Wallace then spun away from a Kalamazoo defenseman behind the Junior K-Wings’ net and set up Andrew McDonald’s first goal in a Johnstown uniform at 17:29 of the second period for a 4-2 lead.
Early in the third period, Jaycob McCombs’ backhand pass from the left circle found captain Mitch Kontny in the right circle, and his wrist shot beat Okicki for a 5-2 lead at 6:44, and Gylling closed the scoring at 17:27 with his team-leading seventh goal. Gylling found the rebound of a Jesse Kessler shot from the top of the left circle, with Kontny also picking up an assist.
