THUNDER SWEEP OPENING WEEKEND IN MANCHESTER WITH 5-3 WIN

Manchester, NH - The Adirondack Thunder completed the weekend sweep over the Manchester Monarchs with a 5-3 victory on Saturday evening at SNHU Arena.

For the second night in a row it was Adirondack that opened the scoring in the first period as Ty Loney collected his first tally of the season to make it 1-0 Thunder. Forward Gunnar Hughes worked the puck down behind the Manchester net and hit a wide open Loney in front, who buried past a helpless Jack Flinn for the game’s first goal. Hughes and defenseman Alex Wall collected the assists on the play, the second consecutive game with a helper for Wall.

Adirondack doubled its advantage at the 6:09 mark of the first period as Mikkel Aagaard collected the first goal of his young professional career to give the Thunder a 2-0 lead. After Wall’s shot from the point was denied by Flinn, Aagaard was positioned directly in front, collected the rebound and slid it over the goal line for the tally. Wall’s assist game him his first career two-point game, while Thunder Captain Peter MacArthur collected the secondary assist on the play, his first point of the season.

Just before the break it was the visitors that struck again as Loney collected his second tally of the evening. With less than two minutes to play in the opening period, winger Phil Lane chased down a puck in the offensive zone and fired a pass through the crease to Aagaard, who one-touched back across to Loney for the goal. The finish gave Loney his second career multi-goal game in the ECHL, while Aagaard and Lane each picked up their first career ECHL assists.

The Thunder kept the offensive attack on early in the second period as Lane converted his first of the season to give his team a 4-0 advantage. After MacArthur swiftly carried the puck behind the net he fed it off the boards to defenseman Roman Dyukov at the right point. The Belarussian defenseman fired a shot on net that was denied by Flinn, but Lane was well-positioned in front to smash the rebound home for the goal. Lane and MacArthur each collected their second points of the night on the play while Dyukov’s assist was the first of his ECHL career.

Manchester got on the board at the 8:57 mark of the middle frame as Daniel Doremus buried his first tally of the season. A crisp passing play from the Monarchs saw the puck move from Alexx Privitera to Daniel Ciampini to Doremus on the right side, where the winger fired past Adirondack netminder Mason McDonald for the goal. Ciampini remained hot with his third point in two nights, while Privitera’s assist was the first of his ECHL career.

With less than five minutes to play in the second period, the Monarchs cut the Adirondack advantage to 4-2 as Damir Sharipzyanov netted his first goal of the season. After the Thunder were unable to clear their defensive zone, the puck came to Sharipzyanov at the left point and the big defenseman shook an Adirondack player and fired a shot into the top left corner of the net. Joe Pendenza and David Kolomatis were credited with the assists on the play for the Monarchs.

Manchester moved to within a goal at the 8:07 mark of the third period as Ciampini remained hot with his second consecutive multi-point game against the Thunder. A nice shift in the offensive zone for Manchester led to forward Matt Leitner finding Ciampini in front for the slam home goal, his second of the season. Leitner and Kolomatis collected the assists on the play, the second of the evening for Kolomatis.

After a third period that saw chances at both ends, MacArthur ensured that Adirondack would take four points from the weekend with an insurance goal into the empty net with 9.4 seconds remaining. MacArthur’s tally was his first of the season and gave him a three-point night in the victory. Aagaard and defenseman Mathieu Brodeur collected the assists on the play, the third point of the night from Aagaard.

The Thunder are seven days away from their home opener, as they kick off their 2016-17 home schedule on Saturday, October 22, at 7:00 p.m. against the Monarchs at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Ticket packages are available now for the 2016-17 season at just $13 per seat, a savings of 34% off of 2015-16 pricing. Call 518-480-3355 x1 to customize a plan and reserve your season ticket locations today.

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Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team