by Josh Starr
DANBURY, CT – The Danbury Hat Tricks (24-9-3, 71 pts) used a four-goal third period to outlast the Watertown Wolves (24-6-1, 71 pts) 4-0 on Thursday night.
Goaltender Pete Di Salvo made his home debut for the Hat Tricks in Thursday’s win, recording his first shutout in the orange and black. Di Salvo stopped 32 Watertown shots for his second win in as many games for the Hat Tricks.
Through 40 minutes, the Hat Tricks and Wolves were in a scoreless-stalemate, with both teams generating equal chances. It didn’t take long in the third period for the Hat Tricks to strike.
Just 31 seconds into the final period, Tom Mele scored his eight of the season on a pass from Dzmitry Daniliuk. Mele stood at the side of the cage and tipped the feed into a wide-open net.
Steve Mele followed at the 9:59 mark with his eight of the season from Brett Jackson and Johnny Macdonald.
Danbury stood strong the rest of the third period, adding a third goal right after killing off a penalty. Dustin Jesseau exited the box and found a pass from Steve Mele leading him into the offensive zone all alone.
Jesseau rifled a wrist-shot past Adam Beukeboom to extend the lead to three before Johnny Macdonald iced the game with 19 seconds left.
The Hat Tricks and the Wolves play twice more this weekend, both in Watertown. Those games can be seen on the Wolves YouTube channel.