MONSTER EFFORT FROM PICKARD STYMIES FLAMES

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Flames fell to the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday evening by a final score of 5-2 in front of 4,054 fans at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Despite an onslaught of offensive opportunities and goals from Bill Arnold and Kenney Morrison, it was Lake Erie netminder Calvin Pickard who stole the show. Pickard turned aside 47 of 49 Adirondack shots on the evening, which was tied for the most saves by a goaltender opposite the Flames this season, while Andrew Agozzino, Colin Smith, and Tomas Vincour all turned in multi-point performances for the Monsters.

After the teams skated to a scoreless opening period, in which Adirondack out-shot Lake Erie by an 18-7 margin, it was the Monsters who struck first 6:06 into the second period. After gaining control of the puck, Lake Erie moved up the ice and into the offensive zone. Vincour skated down the left side and slid a pass through to Troy Bourke who let a shot go from between the circles which beat Thiessen glove side. Smith earned the secondary assist on the goal, which was Bourke’s ninth of the season.

Lake Erie doubled its lead at 15:03 of the middle frame when Smith battled to win an offensive zone faceoff forward, and backhanded a shot past Thiessen while diving toward the net. The goal for Smith was his 12th of the season and was unassisted.

The Monsters scored their third goal of the period as Vincour netted his seventh of the year. The Lake Erie forward was first to the rebound after Thiessen made the initial save off of an Agozzino shot, and proceeded to fire the puck past the Flames netminder to extend Lake Erie’s lead to three. Vincour’s goal, which came on the power play, was assisted by Agozzino and Ben Street and came at 18:05 of the middle stanza.

Lake Erie capped off a big second period by scoring a shorthanded goal with 35 seconds left to play in the frame. Kenny Ryan intercepted the puck in his own end, raced down the ice, and sent a shot on net which beat Thiessen five-hole to extend the Monsters’ lead to four. The goal, which was Ryan’s 11th of the season, was unassisted and was the final shot Thiessen would see on the evening.

The Flames made their way onto the scoreboard just 3:29 into the third when Arnold put home the rebound from an Agostino shot which hit the post. After a Patrick Sieloff point shot redirected to over to Agostino, who was standing to Pickard’s left, Agostino beat the Lake Erie netminder with a shot which rang off the post. The puck then fell into the crease, where Arnold was in good position to poke it into the back of the net for his 14th tally on the season. Agostino and Sieloff were credited with the assists on Arnold’s marker.

The Monsters regained a four goal advantage at 13:04 of the final frame when Agozzino deflected a seeing-eye pass from Stefan Elliot into the net to earn his 28th goal of the season. Ben Youds earned the secondary assist on the tally, which came on the power play.

Adirondack again clawed back within three when Morrison scored the second goal of his professional career at 16:06 of the final period. Skating with the man-advantage, the Flames cycled the puck around the offensive zone, and when it made its way to Morrison, he fired a shot on net which eluded Pickard to light the lamp. Turner Elson and Garnet Hathaway earned the assists on the goal.

The Flames will be back at it on home ice again tomorrow, Sunday, when they will again faceoff against the Lake Erie Monsters. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Tomorrow’s game will be Autism Awareness Night, where $15 tickets will be available to the general public with three dollars from every ticket going to the Upstate New York Autism Alliance. Those tickets can be purchased through the Flames office. To secure your seats, visit the Flames box office, call 518-480-3355, or order online at glensfallscc.com.

Adirondack Flames Hockey • Fired Up

###