THUNDER EARN ANOTHER POINT BUT FALL 5-4 IN THRILLING CONTEST

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder earned themselves a point but dropped a shootout decision to the Florida Everblades in front over more than 4,000 fans on Saturday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

After a scoreless first period, it was the Everblades who struck first at the 2:35 mark of the middle stanza. Florida forward Brant Harris put an initial shot on goal that was turned aside by Adirondack goaltender Mason McDonald, but the rebound went to Brendan O’Donnell who finished the play with a backhanded shot. The goal for O’Donnell was his eighth of the season with Michael Kirkpatrick and Brant Harris picking up the assists on the play, the eleventh of the season for Kirkpatrick.

At the 5:17 mark of the second, Florida doubled their lead to make it a 2-0 game. Everblades’ forward Eric Scheid fired a slap shot from the blue line, which deflected off of an Adirondack stick and bounced past McDonald’s blocker for his fourth goal of the season. Less than a minute later, the Everblades struck again to extend their advantage to three goals. Florida forward Matt Berry and teammate Matt Hatch led a two-on-one rush into the Adirondack zone. Berry remained patient with the puck and fed it to Hatch, who put a quick wrist shot by McDonald for the goal.

The Thunder got on the board at the 10:27 mark of the second period as they converted on the power play with Kirkpatrick in the box for roughing. After forward Peter MacArthur dug the puck out of the corner, defenseman Patch Alber fired a shot from the left point that was redirected home by Brian Ward for his tenth goal of the season. Alber and MacArthur collected the assists on the play, extending MacArthur’s scoring streak to five games.

Adirondack cut its deficit in half as they struck again just over five minutes later to send the game into intermission at 3-2. Forward Greg Wolfe weaved his way through the Florida defense and into the offensive zone, where he sent a pass towards the right wing to defenseman Roman Dyukov. The Belarussian defenseman wound up and one-timed over the shoulder of Florida netminder Anthony Peters for his first career North American goal. Wolfe and defenseman Mathieu Brodeur collected the assists on the play, the eleventh of the season for Brodeur.

Adirondack opened the third period scoring 7:17 into the final stanza of regulation as James Henry buried his first goal of the season to knot the score at three. Adirondack defenseman Alex Wall carried the puck into the zone and handed it off to teammate Ty Loney. Loney then connected a cross-ice pass to Henry, who sniped a wrist shot top shelf for a 3-3 score. Loney and Wall collected the assists on Henry’s first goal of the season, the tenth helper of the year for Loney.

Less than two minutes later, the Everblades regained the lead, however, off of a goal from Eric Scheid. Florida forward Mike Ferrantino maneuvered the puck through the Adirondack defense before he dished back to Scheid, who was able to find an opening over McDonald’s glove for his second goal of the evening. Ferrantino picked up the lone helper on the play, his third on the year.

The back and forth action continued when Adirondack was able to tie the game for the second time on the evening with just over four minutes to play in regulation. Thunder defenseman Mathieu Brodeur crashed into the offensive zone and unleashed a slap shot that went past Peters to knot the score at four apiece. The tally was Brodeur’s second point of the evening and fourth goal on the season, and went down as unassisted.

After a scoreless overtime, including a waved off goal from Kirkpatrick, a shootout would be needed to decide the victor. After Henry was denied for Adirondack, Kirkpatrick was first to shoot for the Everblades and beat McDonald five hole. After a scoreless second round, Peters came up with a save on MacArthur’s backhanded bid to hold the Thunder to a single point.

The Thunder continue their seven-game homestand on Tuesday as they host a familiar foe in the Manchester Monarchs, with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. Adirondack Thunder individual and group ticket packages are available for just $13 per ticket in addition to new Thunder mini-packs, consisting of four tickets and a gift card to a local restaurant for just $65. Call 518-480-3355 x1 or visit ECHLThunder.com/tickets to customize a plan and reserve your seat locations today.

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Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team