THUNDER END LOSING SKID WITH SEVEN GOAL OUTPUT IN NORFOLK

Norfolk, VA - The Adirondack Thunder tied a franchise record with four goals in the second period as they ended their losing skid with a 7-4 victory over the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday evening at the Norfolk Scope.

Adirondack opened the scoring just 77 seconds into the game as Greg Wolfe capitalized on a nice feed in the slot to put the Thunder ahead 1-0. Defenseman Alex Wall skated down the left wing and drew two Norfolk defenders to him before he fed Wolfe, who buried the puck for the game’s first goal, his eighth of the season. Wall and forward Mikkel Aagaard collected the assists on the play, Wall’s team-leading 19th helper of the season.

Norfolk then flipped the script with two goals in just over four minutes to take a 2-1 advantage midway through the first period. First, the Admirals capitalized on an Adirondack turnover as Paul Rodrigues fed defenseman Mike Kreig skating through the slot, who beat Adirondack netminder Drew Fielding for his second goal of the season. Norfolk struck again at the 11:40 mark of the opening period as T.J. Foster converted off of an odd man rush for his ninth goal of the season. John Dunbar collected the lone assist on the play, his tenth assist of the season.

The Thunder were able to knot the score at two in the latter portion of the first as they capitalized on a nice bounce off of a Norfolk defenseman for their second goal of the evening. Forward Brian Ward fed the puck back to the point to Ryan Culkin, who one-timed the feed off of a pair of Admirals’ defenseman and into the back of the net for his first career ECHL goal. Ward and forward Greg Wolfe picked up the assists on the play, Ward’s eighth of the season and his first since he rejoined the Thunder earlier in the week.

The visitors regained their lead 7:07 into the second period as Gunnar Hughes and Brandon Baddock executed a give-and-go to put the Thunder on top 3-2. After a turnover in the Norfolk end, Hughes dropped the puck to Baddock, who carried it through the right circle and fed it back to Hughes in the slot for the goal. The tally, which was the sixth of the season for Hughes, was assisted by Baddock, who collected his second point of the season with the helper.

Adirondack surged to a three-goal advantage midway through the second period as Aagaard scored twice in less than four minutes to give the Thunder a 5-2 lead. First, Wolfe skated around the Norfolk defense and fed a streaking Aagaard at the back post for the tap-in goal in front, the second point of the evening for both players. At the 12:24 mark, Aagaard struck again as he buried a pass from Brett Pollock for his 10th goal of the season and third point of the evening. Pollock and Wolfe collected the assists on the play, Wolfe’s third point of the evening.

Norfolk moved back to within two, however, as John Dunbar scored just as Adirondack killed off a penalty with 4:56 left in the middle stanza. With the puck at the point, defenseman Dmitrii Sergeev fed Dunbar on the left side of the ice and the Norfolk forward skated in on net and beat Fielding on the glove side for his 11th goal of the season. Sergeev and Foster collected the helpers on the play, giving Foster a two-point game with his 13th assist of the season.

The goals continued to flow for the Thunder as Pollock scored one of his own with just 2:18 left in the second period. Adirondack transitioned quickly from defense to offense as Ward head-manned the puck to Pollock on a partial breakaway and the 6-3 winger went five hole on Norfolk netminder Brandon Anderson for his ninth goal of the season. Ward and defenseman Roman Dyukov collected the assists on the play, extending Dyukov’s point streak to three games.

Once again, the Admirals were able to cut their deficit back to two goals as Ben Murphy drove the net and willed a rebound over the goal line to cut the score to 6-4. ECHL All-Star Aaron Harstad wired a slapshot on net that was denied by Fielding, but the rebound flew into the air and Murphy skated into it with his chest to push the puck into the net for his eighth goal of the season. Harstad and Rodrigues collected the assists on the play, the second helper of the night for Rodrigues.

James Henry closed out the scoring with an empty net goal with just 16.7 seconds to play in the game to end Adirondack’s four-game losing skid.

The Thunder return to action with home games next week on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center! 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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