THUNDER UNABLE TO COMPLETE WEEKEND SWEEP WITH 6-2 LOSS TO EAGLES

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder fell in regulation for the first time in seven games, as they dropped a 6-2 decision to the Colorado Eagles on Saturday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

After a first period that saw 31 combined shots but no goals, Colorado opened the scoring 3:34 into the second period as forward Josh Nicholls netted his second goal of the season. On the man advantage, forward Matt Garbowsky sent a shot that deflected off of Jesse Mychan and directly to Nicholls in front for the tap in goal. Garbowsky and Mychan collected assists on the play, Garbowsky’s tenth of the season.

Less than five minutes later, the Eagles were able to double their advantage over the Thunder with a goal from forward Casey Pierro-Zabotel, his seventh of the season. An initial point shot from Luke Salazar was blocked by the skate of his teammate Darryl Bootland, but it redirected to Pierro-Zabotel who finished the play with his team’s second tap-in goal. Bootland and Salazar collected the assists on the play, the tenth of the season for Salazar.

Adirondack got on the board at the 11:23 mark of the middle stanza as they reduced the Colorado lead to one. Thunder defenseman Alex Wall faked a shot high in the slot before he fed a pass to Dennis Karvchenko, who sniped a wrist shot top shelf to beat Nathan Lieuwen on the glove side for a goal in the second straight night. Wall collected the lone assist on the play, his eleventh of the season.

Less than two minutes after Kravchenko's goal, the Eagles struck again to regain their two-goal advantage. After moving into the attacking zone, forward Matt Garbovsky fed a pass to a streaking Jesse Mychan down the left side, who slotted his shot home for the goal, his 12th of the season. Garbovsky and Darryl Bootland picked up the assists on the play, the second point in as many nights for Garbovsky.

The Eagles kicked off the third period with their third power-play goal just 2:08 into the final period of regulation. Adirondack goaltender Tom McCollum made the first two saves off of point blank chances but was unable to stop the third effort, a backhanded wrist shot from the crashing Pierro-Zabotel. Matt Register and Salazar tallied the assists on Pierro-Zabotel’s second goal of the evening, the second helper of the night for Salazar.

Adirondack responded just over a minute later, however, as Thunder forward Peter MacArthur extended his scoring streak to seven games as he notched his seventh goal of the season. Forward Greg Wolfe walked the puck behind the offensive goal line before he fired a shot towards the net that was redirected by MacArthur to cut the Thunder deficit to 4-2. Wolfe collected the lone assist on the play, his eighth of the season, extending his assist streak to four straight.

The Eagles put the game away with two additional goals to end the third period. The first, scored by Salazar, came at the 6:52 mark of the third period. Colorado defenseman Matt Register brought the puck deep into the zone before he sent a cross-ice feed to Salazar, who fired a wrist shot past a diving McCollum for his tenth goal of the season and third point of the evening. Colorado then extended its lead over the Thunder to the final of 6-2 when Pierro-Zabotel scored his third goal of the evening for a hat trick into the empty net. Defenseman Jake Marto cleared the zone with a pass off of the boards to Pierro-Zabotel, who put a backhanded wrist shot from the blue line for the goal. Marto was awarded the lone assist on the play, his eleventh of the season and second of the evening.

The Thunder conclude their homestand next week, as they face off against the Norfolk Admirals on Tuesday and Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center, with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. in both games. 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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