ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira Aviators (7-10-1-0) lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Maine Nordiques (12-3-1-1) at the LECOM Event Center Thursday night.
Elmira trailed by as many as three goals in the game and two late in the third period, but the Aviators have never lacked resilience. Three of their seven wins have been comebacks this season, and Elmira “never said die” against the Nordiques.
Down 4-1 late in the second period, the Aviators put together a spectacular passing play.
Andrew Piccirillo got the puck in the slot and, instead of letting it rip, dished it down to the side of the net for Jake Barratta. He then slid the frozen biscuit across the face of goal to give Matthew Maglio an easy tap-in.
The tally was Maglio’s second of the night, and Barratta’s assist was his first in the NAHL. The Nordiques doubled up the Aviators in shots through two periods, but Elmira had life with the Maglio goal.
Most of the third period did not go Elmira’s way. Maine controlled the pace of play, electing for low-event hockey with few shots and fewer chances.
Catastrophe struck for Elmira when Jack Kohlmann was called for a five-minute major plus game misconduct spearing penalty with just over eight minutes to go in regulation.
The Maine power play had been humming up to that point, but the Elmira penalty kill thrived in desperation as it held onto its last breaths. The Aviators were thrown a lifeline when Maine’s Ryan Santiago slashed Nico Pohjola while he was on a short-handed breakaway, awarding the Aviators a penalty shot.
The Aviators have not played in a shootout all season, nor have they had a penalty shot. Still, Pohjola took his chance wonderfully, dazzling with head fakes and stick handling that left Maine goaltender Matthew Wood down and helpless.
Elmira used that momentum to kill off the remainder of the major penalty and even the score. Once again, the fourth line came through with Shawn Laperriere, Quinn Pine and Greg Johnson combining for the game-tying goal.
Johnson got the last touch on the net for his first career NAHL goal. Pohjola’s penalty shot and Johnson’s equalizer occurred 1:08 apart.
Both sides failed to find a winner in the final minutes of regulation, so they headed to overtime.
Chances were hard to come by for the first half of overtime, but then Aviator defenseman Zach Buffone took a cross-checking penalty to put the Nordiques on the man-advantage.
Joe Gasperko scored the winner 38 seconds into the power play to seal the victory for Maine.
The Nordiques’ power play entered Thursday’s game ranked last in the East Division at 9.7%. Maine went ¾ on the power play to take down Elmira.
The Aviators and Nordiques will go right back at it Friday night at the LECOM Event Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on NATV or listened to on WINGZ93.
Mac Young is the play-by-play voice of the Elmira Aviators. To contact him, email [email protected].