BY MIKE MASTOVICH
This ending might have been almost unbelievable in any other season.
But this is a season in which what can go wrong will go wrong for the Johnstown Chiefs. So, nothing should surprise the team or the core base of fans that have stood by their guys despite the Chiefs’ impending move to Greenville, S.C.
Elmira’s 5-4 overtime win over the Chiefs included the Jackals’ game-tying goal with 49 seconds left in regulation and the game-winner on a rebound shot 46 seconds into overtime Sunday afternoon at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
Just like that, what appeared to be a rare home win for the last-place Chiefs turned into an overtime setback in front of an announced crowd of 2,052.
One point instead of two. A celebration for the East Division-leading Jackals instead of the Chiefs, who only have six home wins, with six dates remaining at the War Memorial.
“In the end, it came down to a few fluke bounces, one for us early on and there at the end we didn’t put things together and it fell through,” said Chiefs goaltender John Murray, who had 39 saves. “It slipped out of our hands.”
The Chiefs led 4-3 in the final minute. The Jackals had a face-off in their offensive zone.
Justin Donati won the face-off to Chris Korchinski, who sent the puck back to him.
Donati netted his 34th goal at 19:11 with former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Andy Chiodo pulled for an extra attacker.
In overtime, Jackals defenseman Brennan Turner knocked in his own rebound for the game-winner at 46 seconds.
“We’ve just got to bear down at the end of the game,” said Johnstown forward Sean Berkstresser, who had a goal and an assist. “We were short on bodies. A couple guys got hurt. A lot of guys are injured. But when push comes to shove, in the last minute we’re up 4-3. You’ve just got to bear down.
“Obviously, we didn’t bear down. We didn’t get the bounces that we wanted. It ended up a loss. We’ve got to come back and focus on next weekend.”
Berkstresser gave the Chiefs a 1-0 advantage via his 19th goal 7:26 into the first period. Jeff Martens and new defenseman Andy Sarno assisted.
But Korchinski converted a short-handed breakaway 23 seconds later to tie the game.
“I knew what he was going to do and I showed what I knew too early,” Murray said. “He was able to have that room to put it in. But the guys came and really helped me out a lot. They took away the second chances until late.”
Bryan Marshall converted a power play to give Johnstown a 2-1 lead after the first.
Elmira’s Bear Trapp scored 5:26 into the second, but Johns-
town’s Brian Kaufman re-established the lead with a power-play goal at 11:38.
The teams were tied through two periods after Oliver Proulx’s power-play tally at 17:58.
The Chiefs’ Troy Schwab scored on a short-handed breakaway five minutes into the third. Schwab has three goals and eight points in his past six games.
“I was proud of the guys,” Chiefs assistant coach Jason Spence said. “They worked hard. They discouraged Elmira.
“It’s too bad that had to happen right at the end of the game. We finished the game with 12 or 13 players on the bench. That’s a lot of injuries.”
The Chiefs are off until home games on Friday and Saturday against Reading and Wheeling, respectively.
“We still take it one day at a time,” Murray said. “We have little incentives to try to make the game have some intensity. We’re playing the best hockey since I’ve been here other than that first week when (coach) Neil Smith was here.”
