THUNDER DROP ROAD TRIP FINALE, 3-2, IN GREENVILLE

Greenville, SC – The Adirondack Thunder were unable to hold two separate one-goal leads as they dropped a tight 3-2 decision to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Saturday evening at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

The Thunder opened the scoring 12:56 into the first period as Michael Kirkpatrick finished off a nice passing play for his fourth goal of the season. Greg Wolfe deflected a Mathieu Brodeur point shot directly into the path of Michael Kirkpatrick, who finished the play to make it 1-0. The point was the second in as many nights for both Wolfe and Kirkpatrick.

Greenville equalized with a late first period power-play goal, as a nice passing play of their own knotted the score at one. With the Thunder on a 4-on-3 penalty kill, defenseman Rob Kwiet fed teammate Ryan Rashid in the left hand faceoff circle, who went across the ice to Jack Combs for a one-timer goal. The goal was Combs’ fifth of the season and the assist was the sixth for Rashid as the Swamp Rabbits went into the intermission level at one.

Adirondack regained the lead 9:11 into the third period, as Kirkpatrick scored for the second time, the first multi-goal game of his professional career. Defenseman Ryan Constant collected the puck in the slot, looked off a Greenville defender and slid the puck to a streaking Kirkpatrick, who swatted a shot past Greenville netminder Jeff Malcolm to make it 2-1 Thunder. With the helper, Constant set a career high with an eight game point streak. Forward Mitchell Heard also collected an assist on the play.

The Swamp Rabbits stormed back, however, with two goals in 29 seconds to take a 3-2 lead. First it was defenseman Tyler Elbrecht, who netted his first goal of the season with a slapshot from the point that beat a screened Ken Appleby. The home side would not waste much time in generating their first lead of the night as forward Brian Hart collected his team best sixth goal of the season to put Greenville in front for the first time. The Thunder made a late push as they controlled the puck for much of the late third period, but could not find an equalizer past Malcolm.

Despite the loss, the Thunder capped off a six-game road trip with a 4-2 record and head back to Glens Falls with a 9-2 record and second place in the Eastern Conference. The Thunder are back in action on Wednesday morning at the Civic Center, as they hold their first ever School Day Game, sponsored by the Adirondack Health Institute.

Don’t miss out on the speed, skill, strength and sounds of Thunder hockey with a partial season flex or mini ticket plan today. The Adirondack Thunder and O’Toole’s Restaurant Pub Holiday Pack is on sale now, consisting of four tickets, an inaugural season Thunder hat and a $10 gift card to O’Toole’s, an $80 value for just $60. Send a jolt into your holidays with the gift of Adirondack Thunder hockey. For more information on all Thunder ticket plans, call 518-480-3355 x1 or visit echlthunder.com.

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