THUNDER INCH CLOSER TO PLAYOFFS WITH 3-1 WIN OVER BRAMPTON

Glens Falls NY - The Adirondack Thunder lowered their magic number to four as they defeated the Brampton Beast for the fifth straight time this season on Saturday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The visitors opened the scoring a little over halfway into the first period on Luc-Olivier Blain’s ninth goal of the season. Brampton won an offensive zone faceoff and Jordan Henry fired a shot on net from the point, which was denied by Adirondack netminder Ken Appleby, but Blain gained control of the rebound and buried it for the 1-0 lead. Mark Hammond and Henry earned their sixth and twelfth assists on the year respectively.

The Thunder evened the score with 1:53 remaining in the first period as they converted on the man advantage for the second straight night to make it a 1-1 game. Thunder forward Ryan Lomberg took an entry pass from Peter MacArthur, and fired a lethal wrist-shot top shelf from the left flank for his seventeenth goal of the season. MacArthur had the primary assist, his 27th of the season, and defenseman Mike Bergin also collected a helper.

Adirondack took the lead at the 8:44 mark of the second period when James Henry lit the lamp off of a Gunnar Hughes shot. Terrance Wallin brought the puck into the offensive zone and fired on net, which caused the defense to collapse on goal and create heavy traffic in front of Reiter. Hughes swooped in and attempted to find the back of the net but he too was denied, and finally Henry got the rebound off Reiter’s leg pads and buried home his sixth goal of the year. Hughes and Wallin earned their tenth and seventh assists on the season respectively as the Thunder took their first lead of the evening.

The Thunder pushed their lead to two midway through the final period as defenseman Luke Curadi added an insurance goal, his fifth tally of the season. Curadi trailed the rest of the Thunder into the offensive zone, where Michael Kirkpatrick dished the puck back to the incoming defenseman, who one-timed a slap shot that Reiter got a piece of but was unable to keep out of the net. The assist marked the twenty-eighth helper on the season for Kirkpatrick, moving him back into the team lead.

With the win, the Thunder improve to 37-25-2-4 and move four points clear of the playoff line in the Eastern Conference. Adirondack returns to the ice tomorrow afternoon to wrap up their three-in-three weekend and back-to-back set at the Civic Center with the Brampton Beast. Tomorrow afternoon is Autism Awareness Night, where the Thunder will wear special, Autism themed jerseys. Sunday is also the final post-game skate with the team of the season.

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. Full Season Ticket Holders 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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