THUNDER FALL TO JACKALS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT NIGHT

Elmira, NY - The Adirondack Thunder were unable to avenge last evening’s defeat on home ice and they fell for the second consecutive night to Elmira, this by a 4-2 final at First Arena in Elmira, NY.

The Jackals opened the scoring just 2:14 into the game as they capitalized on an odd-man rush to take a 1-0 lead. After taking over possession in their own end, Elmira transitioned into a three-on-two rush and forward Tyler Currier sent a cross-ice pass from the right wing to a wide open Kyle Bushee, who buried the puck for his fifth goal of the season. Currier and Colin Jacobs collected the assists on the play, the 15th helper of the season for Jacobs.

The home side doubled its lead exactly two minutes later as they capitalized on a power-play with 15:46 to play in the opening period. After Adirondack netminder Drew Fielding made initial saves on a point shot from defenseman Matt Prapavessis and the rebound by Matt Grabowsky, the puck sat in the crease where Currier poked it home for his 18th goal of the season and second point of the evening. The assist was the first of the season for Prapavessis in four games since he joined the Jackals from the AHL’s Rochester Americans.

Adirondack was able to cut their deficit in half before the end of the first period as they sliced the Elmira advantage to 2-1 with 7:56 to play in the opening period. James Henry controlled the puck in the offensive zone and fed Patch Alber at the right hand point, where the Clifton Park native fired a shot towards the front of the net that hit Michael Kirkpatrick’s leg and went in for Kirkpatrick’s 26th goal of the season. Kirkpatrick’s tally moved him into a tie for second in the ECHL while Alber’s assist was his team leading 26th helper of the season.

After a second period that lacked action, the Thunder knotted the score at two with just 1:01 on the clock in the middle stanza. Jeff Silengo collected a cycled pass from Ryan Lomberg and moved in front of the net, where he fed the puck across the crease to Gunnar Hughes and the St. Lawrence graduate put a backhanded shot past Owen for his 11th tally of the season. Silengo and Lomberg had the assists on the play as Silengo extended his point streak away from home to three games.

Elmira broke the 2-2 deadlock with 6:37 left in the third period as Cason Hohmann buried his 18th goal of the season to give the Jackals a one-goal advantage. An Elmira feed from behind the net found a wide open Allen McPherson in front, who was denied by Fielding, but Hohmann crashed the net and jarred the rebound free of Fielding’s cover and over the goal line for the go-ahead marker.

The Jackals wasted little time in regaining their two-goal advantage as they struck again just 1:29 later. After Adirondack was unable to hold the offensive zone, Elmira came down the ice on a 2-on-1 break and forward Chris Langkow hit teammate Darcy Murphy at the back post for the tap-in goal. The tally marked the first of Murphy’s ECHL career in his ECHL debut, while Langkow collected his 30th assist of the season and second helper of the night with the primary assist.

With the loss, the Thunder fall to 34-20-2-4 on the season, remaining in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 13 games remaining in the regular season. After an off day tomorrow, the Thunder are back in action on Sunday at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid against the Reading Royals. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Sunday and tickets are available by visiting tickets.com or the Herb Brooks Arena Box Office.

Full Season Tickets for the 2016-17 Adirondack Thunder season are on sale now for just 13 dollars per seat no matter where you sit. Experience Adirondack Thunder Hockey in a more affordable way than ever before. Sign up by March 31st and pay even less. Full Season Ticket Holders also have exclusive access to 2017 CCM/ECHL All Star Classic tickets. For more information and to get your seats now, call 480-3355 extension 1. Experience Thunder Hockey like never before.

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