West Valley City, Utah – The Adirondack Thunder earned themselves a hard-fought series win over the Utah Grizzlies with a 3-2 victory on Saturday evening at the Mavrik Center.
For the first time in Utah, it was the Thunder who opened the scoring as they took advantage of a fortuitous bounce in the offensive zone. Ty Loney’s deflection of a Mathieu Brodeur shot was turned aside by Utah netminder Ryan Farragher, but the rebound was played by Peter MacArthur, ricocheted off of a Utah defender and into the back of the net. MacArthur was credited with the tally, his third straight game with a goal, while Loney and Brodeur picked up the assists on the play, the ninth of the season for both skaters.
Adirondack doubled its advantage just 57 seconds into the second period as they capitalized on the man advantage to make it 2-0. Brodeur and Loney connected again for Adirondack after Brodeur controlled the puck in the right-hand circle. The 6-6 defenseman fed Loney in front of the net and the Thunder forward spun to his backhand and slid the puck under Farragher for his sixth goal of the season. Brodeur and defenseman Alex Wall collected the helpers on the play, the second in as many nights for Wall.
The Grizzlies capitalized next with a pair of special teams’ tallies to knot the score at two. Utah scored first while on the power play, as they cut the Adirondack lead in half with a goal at the 9:01 mark of the second period. Forward Brandon McNally converted a Tim Daly feed in the slot for his third goal of the season. With just 1:39 left in the middle stanza, Utah struck again, this time while shorthanded, as Erik Bradford stole the puck in the Adirondack end, went end-to-end and beat Thunder netminder Mason McDonald with a slick move to knot the score at two.
The visitors took the lead for the second time on the evening as Dana Fraser buried his fourth goal of the season 7:35 into the third period to put the Thunder ahead 3-2. Forward Brett Pollock chased down the puck behind the Grizzlies’ net and fed the puck out in front where it fell to Fraser, who slotted it home along the ice for the go-ahead goal. The assists on the play went to Pollock and defenseman Alex Wall, the second point of the evening for Wall.
The Thunder finally head home after collecting five wins from eight road games to begin a seven-game homestand, beginning this week on Tuesday and Saturday against Florida as the Thunder and the Glens Falls Civic Center unveil their brand new video scoreboard. 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