THUNDER DROP TRACK MEET WITH MANCHESTER 6-5 IN SHOOTOUT

Glens Falls NY - The Adirondack Thunder fell 6-5 in a shootout to the Manchester Monarchs on Friday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The two teams combined for 100 shots in the 11-goal thriller, the highest combined shot total in a Thunder game this season.

Manchester got on the board first just over halfway through the opening period with Danick Paquette’s fifth goal of the season. Matt Leitner skated into the Thunder zone, drew two defenders towards him to the right of Adirondack netminder Kent Simpson and dished the puck across the crease to Paquette, who tapped it in for the finish. The play marked the 26th assist on the year for Leitner, leading all Manchester skaters.

The Thunder tied the score at one on James Henry’s goal with a little under five minutes to play in the first period. Henry gained control of the puck in the offensive zone after a scrum along the left-hand boards, ran a give-and-go with Louick Marcotte in the slot, and fired home for his third goal of the season. The marker was the third goal of the year for Henry, while Marcotte picked up his sixth assist. Mitchell Heard also added his seventeenth assist this season with the secondary helper.

Adirondack took the lead a minute into the second period when Dana Fraser took a neutral zone pass from Jeff Silengo, flew up the right boards and cut across the crease to deke out current Manchester and former Adirondack Flame netminder Doug Carr. The tally was Fraser’s sixth goal this season, while the assist was the fifth on the year for Silengo. Patch Alber contributed the secondary helper on the play, his tenth assist of the year.

The Monarchs responded right away, however, with two goals in less than 12 seconds off the sticks of Alex Guptill and Maxim Kitsyn. Guptill took a pass from Yann Sauve, skated to the right faceoff dot and fired past Simpson’s blocker to tie the game at two 2:10 into the second period. The visitors struck again moments later when Kitsyn redirected Jeff Diamond’s pass over Simpson to regain the lead.

Manchester pushed the lead to two a few minutes later when Kitsyn gained control of the puck behind the Adirondack net and sent a pass off a Thunder player’s skate right onto the stick of Derek Arnold, who quickly buried the puck before Simpson could make a play on it. The tally was the tenth goal on the year for Arnold, while Kitsyn picked up his fourteenth assist and his eighth multi-point game of the season.

The Thunder cut the lead to back to one when Ryan Constant came skating into the offensive zone, took a pass from Peter MacArthur at the point and rifled a shot under the outstretched glove of Carr. It was the fifth goal this year for Constant, while MacArthur and Michael Kirkpatrick collected the assists, their fourth and seventeenth assists on the campaign respectively.

The home team tied the contest a couple minutes later when Greg Wolfe, who was smartly positioned to left of the goaltender, gained control of a rebound off a Constant blast and put the puck in the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season. Constant added his seventeenth assist and third multipoint game this season, while Peter MacArthur added the secondary assist for his second multipoint game of the season.

Manchester once again took the lead when Derek Arnold found the back of the net for the second time on the night. Arnold’s eleventh goal of the season was scored after he found the rebound of Yann Sauve’s shot off the leg pads of Simpson. Sauve picked up his nineteenth assist for his sixth multi-point game. Michael Boivin also added an assist on the play, his twelfth this year.

Adirondack earned a point as they tied the game with four minutes remaining in the third period on Jeff Silengo’s seventh goal of the season. Peter MacArthur gained control of the puck from a wraparound pass from Mitchell Heard, sent into the slot, where Silengo walked down the center lane and lifted the puck over Carr’s glove side shoulder to tie the game at five. MacArthur’s helper gave him three on the night, his first three-point effort of the season.

After a scoreless overtime where the Thunder could not score on any of their five shots, the two teams took to the shootout. Adirondack fell to 1-0 in the skills competition as Yann Sauve scored the lone goal to earn Manchester two points.

Despite the loss the Thunder retain a two-point lead over the Monarchs with three games in hand. The teams go back at it tomorrow evening for the second of three straight matchups, with the next two taking place at the Verizon Arena in Manchester.

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 have several mini-packs on sale now, consisting of two or four tickets, combined with a taste of downtown gift card. 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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