PITTSBURGH – Anthony Cinato’s hat trick to lead the Metro Jets to a 9-4 win over the Pittsburgh Vengeance at the Alpha Ice Complex was one highlight from Saturday night.
Jets equipment manager Paul Sheridan also worked his 300th game for the organization and was awarded the game puck after the game by Jets forward Jhuwon Davis.
“On the Wednesday after the last showcase in Boston, I was doing some math, adding up all the games in the 13 seasons and I realized this roadie to Pittsburgh will be 300 games,” said Sheridan, affectionately called “Paulie” by all those with the Jets. “There a lot of good memories. And some not so good. But the memories that will last forever, of course, are the 47-0 season (2016-17) and winning the national championship last year.
“The best part of the game tonight was the win and ‘Juju’ giving me the game puck.”
On the ice, Anthony Cinato went for a hat trick and an assist, while Cory Schwartz had a goal and two assists to back Brian Tallieu’s 19 saves in goal.
“I thought we came out well in the first period with a lot of offensive pressure and zone time,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “Good to see that translate to goals as we had been a little frustrated offensively despite feeling that we’ve been outplaying and outshooting teams in games lately.
“But then we have another big lapse in the second. We let Pittsburgh back in the game with mental mistakes again, and it’s unacceptable. At this stage in the season and heading into playoffs, those kinds of errors just can’t happen.”
Davis, Rhett Limback, Justin Renzi, Joey Bruce and Jets captain Jeremy Schwartz also scored, while Jaylen Dziegelewski added a pair of assists.
Justin Shepherd scored twice for Pittsburgh and Santeri Rajakailio and Joar Rosengard added one each. Landon Anderson suffered the loss in goal, making 28 saves.
“We were very lucky to head into the third period with a two-goal lead,” Lovell said. “Credit to our forwards for cashing in on our chances, so we will take that positive, but we know that Pittsburgh was not at their best tonight, and I think Pittsburgh would agree. They handed us the game in the third.
“That will absolutely not be the case tomorrow. We need to be ready, and I think we will be.”
In Bay City, Trevor Granzow tallied a hat trick and added two assists to lead the MJDP Team past the Tri City Icehawks 6-1. Matt Bleim added a goal and four assists and Michael Paul made 17 saves in goal for the win.
The Jets and Pittsburgh wrap up their weekend series Sunday at 11:30 a.m., while the MJDP hosts the Motor City Hockey Club at 3:30 p.m. at Fraser Hockeyland.
Both games Sunday will be streamed on www.HockeyTV.com.
