Manchester, NH – The Adirondack Thunder clinched a berth in the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs with a 4-3 win over the Manchester Monarchs on Friday evening at Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Monarchs opened the scoring less than eight minutes into the game as Troy Power capitalized on a fortunate bounce to give his team a 1-0 lead. As Zac Larazza floated a shot from the point, Power got a stick on it and the puck popped up in the air and floated over Adirondack netminder Ken Appleby for Power’s fifth tally of the season. Larazza and Danick Paquette collected the assists on the play, the tenth of the season for Larazza.
Adirondack equalized just over two minutes later, however, as James Henry capitalized on a favorable bounce of his own to knot the score at one with 10:26 left in the first period. After a loose puck floated into the slot, Henry and Manchester defenseman Jacob Middleton hit the puck at the same time, sending it up in the air and past Monarchs’ netminder Colin Stevens. The tally marked Henry’s sixth goal of the season, while Dana Fraser and Luke Curadi collected the helpers on the play.
The Thunder took their first lead of the night as Michael Kirkpatrick scored his team leading 29th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the left hand circle. Kirkpatrick took a feed from Peter MacArthur, skated in from the slot and fired a shot by Stevens for the goal. The tally extended Kirkpatrick’s lead amongst ECHL rookie skaters, while MacArthur picked up his 28th assist of the season on the play.
Adirondack picked up a third goal just before intermission thanks to a superb individual effort from Greg Wolfe. With the Thunder shorthanded, Wolfe moved into the offensive zone, stole the puck from Manchester netminder Colin Stevens in the corner and put it home on the backhand to give the Thunder a 3-1 lead heading into the locker rooms. The tally, which came unassisted, was Wolfe’s 15th of the season and his fifth in five games in the month of April.
The visitors extended their lead to three late in the second period as they converted for the first time on the man advantage with just 44 seconds remaining in the middle stanza. Kirkpatrick took a feed from Brodeur and fired a shot towards the Manchester goal, that was deflected by Fraser and into the back of the net for his ninth tally of the season. Kirkpatrick’s helper on the play marked his 29th, leading all Thunder skaters, and his 16th multi-point game of the season.
Manchester cut the lead back down to two at the 8:22 mark of the third period. With the Monarchs on the man advantage, they worked the puck throughout the offensive zone and defenseman Alex Lintuniemi set up Michael Boivin for a one-timer and he buried for his ninth goal of the season. Lintuniemi and Maxim Kitsyn collected the helpers on the play, the 27th of the season for Kitsyn.
The Monarchs made it a one-goal game with less than 30 seconds on the clock to cut the Adirondack advantage to 4-3. After an offensive zone faceoff win, the puck fell to Larazza at the top of the left-hand circle and the Manchester winger put a bullet of a shot over Appleby’s glove and underneath the crossbar for his 18th tally of the season. The goal for Larazza came off of an assist from Mark Anthoine, his 13th of the season.
The Thunder and Monarchs will battle once again tomorrow evening in a rematch at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Tickets to tomorrow’s game are still available at just $13 per seat. Come out to the civic Center and help us create a playoff atmosphere with playoff pricing. Tickets are available at the Glens Falls Civic Center Box Office or online at https://thunder.formstack.com/forms/thunderstruck.
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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