THUNDER TAME JACKALS BEHIND 49 SAVES FROM FIELDING

Elmira, NY - The Adirondack Thunder rebounded from last night’s shootout defeat to tame the Elmira Jackals by a 3-1 final at First Arena on Saturday evening in Elmira, NY. Drew Fielding topped his career high with 49 saves while Louick Marcotte paced the offensive effort with a pair of goals.

Adirondack got off to a quick start as Michael Kirkpatrick reached the 20-goal plateau with a tap in at the back post to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead. Thunder winger Quinn Smith fed defenseman Mike Busillo at the left point and the UMass graduate hit Kirkpatrick in front for the goal. Kirkpatrick’s marker extended his ECHL rookie lead to 20, while Smith extended his point streak to four games with the secondary assist. Busillo’s point marked his first of the season and the second of his professional career.

The Thunder continued their offensive prowess as Louick Marcotte doubled his team’s advantage just 46 seconds after Kirkpatrick’s tally. An on-point Adirondack forecheck jarred the puck loose to Marcotte in the high slot, where the Longueuil, PQ native deked out Elmira netminder C.J. Motte for his ninth goal of the season.

Elmira got in on the action at the 5:20 mark of the first period off of a faceoff win in the offensive zone. Jackals center Justin Bernhardt won the faceoff in the lefthand circle directly back to Matt Garbowsky, where the 5’10” forward fired over Adirondack Thunder netminder Drew Fielding’s glove hand for his third tally of the season. The assist for Bernhardt, his 13th of the season, marked back-to-back games with helpers against the Thunder.

Marcotte doubled his total for the night as he buried a power-play goal early in the second period. Patch Alber started the rush for the Thunder from his own end and a quick passing play from Alber to Ryan Lomberg to Peter MacArthur found a streaking Marcotte in the slot and the winger buried for his tenth goal of the season. The multi-goal game is the third of the season for Marcotte, while MacArthur and Lomberg collected the assists on the play, their ninth and tenth on the season respectively.

The third period featured chances for both teams but goaltending prevailed as Fielding and the Thunder rearguard preserved the win. Fielding’s 49 saves were six more than last night, giving Fielding 92 saves over the past two nights. The Thunder are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they visit the Brampton Beast for a 2:00 p.m. matinee. The Thunder have collected nine of a possible ten points in the third game of back-to-back sets this season.

Don’t miss out on the speed, skill, strength and sounds of Thunder hockey. Discounted group tickets and a Family 4 Pack are available now, along with individual tickets. For more information on all Thunder ticket plans, call 518-480-3355 x1 or visit echlthunder.com.

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