The Generals swept their final meeting against the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks in the regular season over the weekend. Northeast took home wins on Saturday, Feb. 24 at home, before traveling to Danbury and walking away with the dub on Sunday, Feb. 25. The scores were 3-0 and 8-1 respectively.
Game one saw the Gens get the jump on the Jr. Hat Tricks early, with returning forward Matt Nuzzolilo potting his first goal back in the NA3HL 15 seconds into the game to jump ahead 1-0 in the first. Neither team could find the twine until early in the second period, where Nuzzolilo fired in his second of the game to make it 2-0 only five minutes into the period. Northeast found their third and final goal of the game late in the third, with forward Sean Gorman, coming back from a shoulder injury, redirected a powerplay shot into the back of the net to make it 3-0, which stood as the final score.
Goaltender Mike Foglia got the start in net for the Gens, securing the shutout with 16 stops on 16 attempts for his 14th victory of the year. The shutout is his first of the season, and first in his NA3HL career. Nuzzolilo recorded an assist to go with his two goals, while forward Michael Locke assisted on all three General goals.
Sunday evening saw the Generals dominate from the start, with forward Caiden Hess picking up where he left off from last weekend with a goal 11 minutes into the game to make it 1-0. Hess then scored again, this time 14 and a half minutes in, to make it 2-0, before forward Gabe Vijuk found his team leading 28th goal of the season 18 and a half minutes into the first to jump ahead 3-0. The Generals outshot the Jr. Hat Tricks 24 to one in the first period.
Nuzzolilo continued his dominating weekend with a short handed goal five minutes into the second to jump ahead 4-0, before Defenseman Brandon Hemmer scored his fifth of the season seven and a half minutes into the game to jump ahead 5-0. Forward Connor McLachlan kept the pressure going with a back-to-back four-on-four goals only a minute and 15 seconds into the third period, before Nuzzolilo scored yet another short handed goal just short of 11 minutes into the period to make it eight unanswered goals for Northeast. Danbury was able to respond with a powerplay goal 30 seconds later, but neither team could find the back of the net after that, with the Gens getting the 8-1 victory.
Goaltender Danny Antal guarded the net for game two, stopping 9 of the 10 shots he saw in his 21th win this season. Seven different Generals recorded two or more points in the game, with Hemmer and Vijuk both recording two assists to go with their goals.
The Generals will return home to take part in their final regular season series of the season, as the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings come to visit Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 PM EST, and Sunday, March 3, at 12:30 PM EST. Those will be the final regular season games of the year. The fourth-seeded Jr. Mountain Kings will take on the Generals in the first round of the East Division playoffs, with those game dates and times still to be determined.