THUNDER DROP WILD 7-6 GAME TO MANCHESTER

Glens Falls, NY – The Thunder earned a point but dropped a wild 7-6 affair to the Manchester Monarchs on Friday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Adirondack kicked off the scoring 5:52 into the game with a goal from rookie defenseman Conor Riley, which extended his point streak to four games. Thunder forward Mikkel Aagaard received the puck in the corner from Peter MacArthur and connected with a crashing Riley, who buried a one-timer from the slot. Riley’s goal was the first of his professional career with Aagaard and MacArthur picking up the assists on the play, the 13th assist of the season for both players.

The Thunder connected on the man advantage with just 53 seconds remaining in the first period to advance their lead to 2-0. The Thunder worked the puck around the offensive zone with Ryan Culkin collecting it at the point. The 6-2 blueliner fed a pass to Stepan Falkovsky, who one-timed it home for his third goal of the season. Culkin and Aagaard collected the assists on the play, Culkin's first in his first game with the Thunder this season.

Manchester struck twice to open the middle stanza, with the first goal coming just 78 seconds in through Manchester forward Ashton Rome’s second goal of the season. Forward Gasper Kopitar tallied his sixth assist of the season with an outlet pass to Rome, who finished the play with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. Just under four minutes later, the Monarchs struck again with a goal from Derek Arnold, his seventh of the season. Ed Wittchow connected with Arnold on a cross-ice pass, and Arnold was able to break free from the Adirondack defense and finish on the backhand for the game-tying goal.

The Thunder regained their lead at the 9:03 mark of the middle stanza as they converted for the second time in two opportunities on the power play. MacArthur sent a seeing-eye feed through the crease for Patch Alber, who was denied by a sprawling save from Manchester netminder Sam Brittain, but the rebound fell into the slot for a charging James Henry, who put it home for his sixth goal of the season. Alber and MacArthur picked up the helpers on the play, MacArthur's second of the evening.

It took the hosts less than a minute to increase their lead to two goals as Cullen Bradshaw scored in his first game with the Thunder to push the lead to 4-2. After he took a feed from Henry, Bradshaw sent a spinning shot from the right corner through the legs of Brittain for his first career ECHL goal. Henry collected the lone assist on the play, his second point of the evening and 11th assist of the season.

Adirondack took its largest lead of the evening at the 17:49 mark of the middle stanza as Brett Pollock fired home for his sixth goal of the season. After a quick passing sequence from the Thunder, Henry hit an uncovered Pollock in the high slot and the rookie forward would not be denied with his wrist shot. Pollock's goal was assisted by Henry and Bradshaw, giving Henry his first three-point game of the season, the fourth of his ECHL career.

The visitors answered with a pair of goals of their own to cut their deficit to one goal, starting at 18:06, with Matt Leitner’s fifth of the season. Adirondack goaltender J.P. Anderson denied two Manchester shots on goal but was unable to stop a third as Leitner was waiting backdoor for the rebound for the tap in goal. Manchester then closed the scoring for the second period with just 27 seconds remaining with a goal from Daniel Doremus, his fifth of the season. Jordan LaValle-Smotherman led the Manchester rush into the zone and dished to Doremus, who fired home on a wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle. LaValle-Smotherman and Alexx Privitera were awarded assists on the play, Privitera’s thirteenth of the season.

7:00 into the third period, Manchester’s Tony Turgeon scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at five. Leitner wove his way through traffic and sent a pass to Turgeon from behind the net, who finished from the slot. Leinter and Teddy Doherty collected assists on the goal, Leitner’s eighteenth assist of the season. For the first time of the evening, Manchester then took the lead at 14:05 with a power-play goal from Kevin Morris, his ninth of the season. Manchester worked the puck throughout the zone and defenseman David Kolomatis placed a shot on net that deflected off of Morris for the goal. Kolomatis tallied his sixteenth assist of the season and Arnold collected his second point of the game.

With just 6.5 seconds left in regulation, Thunder forward Dana Fraser scored his fifth goal of the season to send the game into overtime. Off of a won faceoff for the Thunder, Culkin sent a wrist shot towards the net that rebounded to Fraser, who trapped the rebound off of his own skate and beat Sam Brittain glove side for the goal. Culkin tallied his second helper of the night and MacArthur extended his point streak with his third of the night.

With just 1:25 left in overtime, Shore ended the game with his eleventh goal of the season and his second point of the night. Adirondack had possession of the puck, but as they attempted to clear their defensive zone, Doremus stole the puck and sent a pass through the slot to Shore, who ended the game with a wrist shot past Anderson’s blocker. Doremus was awarded the lone assist and his twenty-fourth of the season.

The Thunder return to action tomorrow evening as they visit the Manchester Monarchs to complete the back-to-back set. Adirondack Thunder individual and group ticket packages are also 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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