Johnstown tops Storm in OT
10/13/2002JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -Johnstown Chiefs forward J.F. Boutin felt responsible for allowing the Toledo Storm to tie last night's East Coast Hockey League game at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
So, Boutin took matters into his own hands in the 4-on-4 overtime session.
The veteran left wing scored 37 seconds into the extra period to give Johnstown a 5-4 victory before 2,718 fans.
“I had to come back and do something for the win,” Boutin said. “I took two penalties. The first one, I didn't deserve, but I took a four-minute penalty. I had to do something to make the team win.
“I was lucky. I scored. It's good. I came back. I just faked going to the outside and came back on the inside. The defense moved. I saw the goalie went down. I came back and shot between his blocker and his body.”
The Chiefs led 4-2 with 3:54 to play when Boutin received minor penalties for elbowing and unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Storm's Matt Ellis converted on the first power play with 2:26 remaining, and Wes Mason forced overtime with a goal with 18 seconds left. Mason scored as Boutin's second penalty expired. Goaltender Doug Teskey had been pulled for an extra attacker.
The Storm is 1-0-1 and Johnstown is 2-0-0.
The Chiefs broke a scoreless tie with two goals over the opening 5:59 of the second period.
Forward Vladimir Nemec put a rebound past Teskey, who was out of position after de- fenseman Jeff Sullivan's initial shot 2:13 into the period. Johnstown center Dominic Forget converted a power play at 5:59.
Toledo's Jeff Mitchell cut the lead in half with a rebound goal against Peter Aubry at 13:03 of the second period. Mike Bayrack had the first attempt, and Tim Verbeek also assisted.
The Storm had some momentum after successfully killing off a Johnstown 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:31 with about four minutes left.
But with 59 seconds remaining in the second period, Chiefs defenseman Phil Roy hit the open net after Boutin's shot hit Teskey's stick and bounced to Roy in the slot.
Left wing Nick Parillo pulled the Storm within 3-2 by scoring 5:42 into the third. Erik Anderson's shot on Aubry caromed to Parillo, who wristed in the rebound. Alexandre Jacques also assisted.
Johnstown veteran captain Brent Bilodeau managed to keep in the puck as it trickled to the blue line, then he skated between the circles and beat Teskey with a low shot at 11:06 to make it 4-2.