Dayton, Ohio- The defending American Conference Champion Dayton Bombers improved their season record against division rival Johnstown Chiefs to 4-1-0 with an impressive 3-0 win in front of 4,679 fans at the Nutter Center Friday night.

With a full three days off, the Bombers seemed eager to step onto the ice, led by All-Stars Yannick Tifu and Matt Beaudoin. Tifu, who went without a goal in the All-Star game, quickly found the back of Johnstown’s net, off of a highlight reel zigzag goal to put the Bombers ahead by one just 3:15 in. While controlling the tempo throughout most of the period, Dayton’s Mike Berry would add his seventh goal of the season on the power play to the score sheet, assisted by Brad Bonello and Taylor Christie at the 12:24 mark. Johnstown was unable to score on starting netminder Jeremy Duchesne, putting the Bombers in front 2-0 at the break. Shots on goal favored the Bombers 12-8.

Johnstown found their higher gears in the early stages of the second period, but it would not last long. Dayton’s defense ensured the Chiefs only picked up three shots on goal the entire period, while the Bombers offensive efforts earned an impressive twelve. Already ahead by a pair of goals, Dayton extended the lead to three at the 18:22 mark of the second period courtesy of defenseman Ryan Reid’s third goal of the season. The goal was assisted by enforcer Brit Dougherty and rookie Ryan Smyth. Shots on goal at the break favored Dayton 24-11.

Facing a rematch in Johnstown on Saturday night, Bombers head coach Bill McDonald decided to play it safe and maintain the three-goal lead in the third period. Despite only sending a season-low two shots in the direction of the Chiefs net, the Bombers defense managed to keep Johnstown scoreless after sixty minutes. Final shots on goal slightly favored Dayton 26-24. The win earned Bombers goaltender Jeremy Duchesne his first shut-out of the season in his 17^th appearance for Dayton.

With the win, Dayton improves its record to 19-14-7 for 45 points and fourth place in the North Division (and just one game behind Reading for a share of third). Both teams now travel to the historic Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown Pennsylvania for the 7:05pm rematch on Saturday night. Fans can tune into the broadcast via b2 Networks at echl.com, daytonbombers.com and b2livetv.com with JT Szabo on the call.