The Twin City Thunder fell to the Rockets Hockey Club for the second time in a week on Friday.
Jonas Dobnig scored twice to lead the Rockets to a 5-2 victory over the Thunder at the Hitmen Classic in Wayne, New Jersey.
“We lost our way a little bit, and we had some chances on the power play that we didn’t cash in,” Thunder coach Dan Hodge said. “It’s early in the year, we are still trying to figure out who plays well with who. It’s one of those situations where we have to have more compete. That’s the key, we have to compete hard.”
The Rockets also defeated the Thunder 5-1 last Saturday.
Defenseman Gavin Connelly gave the Thunder (1-4, 2 points) an early 1-0 lead in Friday’s game with a first-period goal set up by Cade Laden.
“He’s a skilled player, he skates well and he passes the puck hard,” Hodge said of Connolly. “He’s a (2003-birth year); he’s played in the league, he played for the Junior Bruins last year in the Premier League. He played well. We are looking for leadership from him on the back end.”
Rockets HC (5-2, 10 points) struck twice in the first. Nicholas DelGaizo tied the game at the 12:42 mark, and three minutes later, Ian Duffy gave the Rockets HC a 2-1 lead.
Duffy spent the summer at the Maine Nordiques’ main and training camps.
Dobnig potted a goal late in the second stanza, beating Thunder goalie Lugwig Svensson (21 saves) and putting the Rockets up 3-1.
Tatro, the hero for the Thunder Thursday in a 2-1 win against the Jersey Hitmen, got Twin City within 3-2 when he tapped the puck past Rockets HC goalie Jakob Hanlon (32 saves) a little more than a minute into the third period. Fellow second-year forwards Nolan Leonard and Patrick Last had the assists.
“(Last) got the shot through and found the rebound,” Hodge said. “It squeaked through the goalie and Tatro was able to put it in.”
Midway through the third period, Cam Bergeman scored a shorthanded goal for Rockets HC.
Dobnig scored his second goal with a shorthanded effort in the final minute of the game.
The Thunder wrap up the Hitmen Classic against the Utica Jr. Comets on Saturday at 11:15 a.m.
THUNDER ADD FORWARD
The Thunder signed 19-year-old forward Jace Koenigsmark on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Middletown, New Jersey, spent the 2022-23 season with the Maine Nordiques Academy 18U team. He tallied 11 goals and 24 assists in 57 games.
Koenigsmark began this season with the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League and appeared in two games.
Hodge said Koenigsmark will be in the lineup Saturday morning.
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