The Twin City Thunder completed the USPHL Winter Showcase with three wins and three days.
The Thunder defeated the Utica Jr. Comets 6-3 in an USPHL National Collegiate Development Conference game Monday at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Twin City (16-11-1, 33 points) defeated the Boston Advantage 7-5 on Saturday and the Islanders Hockey Club 4-3 on Sunday.
“We are pleased with our weekend, but we know there’s a lot more to do,” Thunder coach Dan Hodge said. “We are going to enjoy today and next weekend.”
The Comets (16-14-3, 35 points) jumped out to a 2-0 lead during the first period of Monday’s game. Domenick Evtimov scored the first goal with under five minutes remaining in the period, and John Gutt scored a power-play goal with less than two minutes left in the period.
Twin City bounced back in the second period. Tristan Rand cut the deficit to 2-1 with his 14th goal of the season — and his third of the showcase — 72 seconds into the period.
“We got down 2-0 yesterday, and we got down 2-0 today; we just made sure the guys knew it was a 60-minute game and we have a long way to go. We just had to chip away at it. Again, it was a good team effort, and everybody chipped in.”
Three minutes later, Twin City forward Sam Stitz scored his seventh goal of the year to tie the game.
Midway through the second period, defenseman Ben Monson scored to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead.
The Thunder’s momentum continued in the third period. Forward Tyler Healey scored his 11th goal of the season — and sixth of the showcase — to give Twin City a 4-2 lead with 6:52 remaining in the game.
Trace Norwell, who had an assist on Healey’s goal, then scored with 6:19 left for his ninth goal of the year pushed the Thunder’s lead to 5-2.
“Everybody is chipping in; we are getting contributions from everybody,” Hodge said. “The best thing about the team is everybody is pulling for each other. Everybody is excited about who’s playing and who’s on the ice.”
Owen Carlisle scored with three minutes to go for Utica’s third goal.
Twin City’s Dom Chasse scored an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.
Thunder goalie Brody Haynes stopped 32 shots, and Sebastian Woods made 42 saves for Utica.
The Thunder travel to Long Island, New York, to take on the P.A.L. Islanders on Friday (3 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.).
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