THUNDER TIE SEASON HIGH WITH EIGHT GOALS IN WIN OVER ELMIRA

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder tied a season high with eight goals as they skated to an 8-2 victory over the Elmira Jackals on Saturday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The Thunder opened the scoring with two goals in just over two and a half minutes to open up an early 2-0 advantage. First, 6:36 into the game, Adirondack forward Ty Loney kicked off the scoring with his sixteenth goal of the season. With the Thunder on the man advantage, Captain Peter MacArthur sent a pass to Loney where he was waiting at the back post and the 6-4 winger finished with a tight wrist shot to the top corner of the net. Just 2:32 later, rookie defenseman Stepan Falkovsky scored his sixth goal of the season after he teed up a Mikkel Aagaard pass for a one-timer goal that beat Elmira netminder Andy Iles. Aagaard and Greg Wolfe collected helpers on the play, Aagaard’s 18th of the season.

Elmira cut Adirondack’s lead in half with a goal from forward Greg Betzhold, his sixth of the season, with 8:35 to play in the first period. Jackals’ forward Sebastien Sylvestre gained possession of the puck in the corner and sent a pass to the slot where Betzhold backhanded the puck through the five-hole of J.P. Anderson to get his team on the board. Sylvestre and Mark Bennett notched assists on the goal, Sylvestre’s 14th of the season.

Adirondack kicked off the second period with a goal just 3:12 into the period as forward Brian Ward found the back of the net for his 13th tally of the season. Defenseman Alex Wall carried the puck to the top of the circle and sent a cross-ice pass to Ward for the one-timer that beat Iles for the goal. Wall and Alber tallied assists on the play, Wall’s 22nd of the season and Alber’s second of the evening.

Elmira responded with a goal of its own at the 8:45 mark of the middle stanza as Sylvestre collected his second point of the evening and 12th goal of the season. Forward Greg Betzhold fired a shot from the slot, that was denied by the pad of Anderson, but Sylvestre crashed backdoor and lifted the puck over an extended Anderson for the goal. Betzhold and Mark Bennett collected assists on the play, Betzhold’s fourth and Bennett’s sixth of the season.

The Thunder regained their two-goal advantage just 1:29 later, however, as Greg Wolfe found the back of the net at the 10:14 mark of the middle stanza. Forward Brett Pollock drove the puck to the net and saw his backhanded shot denied by Iles. Defenseman Stepan Falkovsky followed up on the play and jammed the puck through Iles' legs, where a waiting Wolfe tapped it home for the goal, his tenth of the season. Falkovsky and Pollock collected the helpers on the play, Falkovsky's second point of the evening.

Falkovsky struck again as he scored his second goal of the evening 3:07 into the third period, his first career multi-goal game. From the point, defenseman Conor Riley fed a pass to Falkovsky, who moved towards the net, beat an Elmira defenseman and deked the goalie for a top-shelf finish, his seventh goal of the season. Riley and Ward collected the helpers on the play, Ward’s eighth assist of the season and second point of the evening.

The Thunder increased their lead to 6-2 as Patch Alber scored for the first time in 747 days to put his team ahead by four. With the puck at the left point, defenseman Alex Wall sent a seeing eye pass through the Elmira defense to a streaking Alber, who buried it at the back post for his first goal in a Thunder jersey. Wall and Brett Pollock collected the assists on the play, Wall's second of the evening.

The hosts then pulled ahead to an 8-2 advantage with goals from Ward and Pollock. First, Falkovsky dished a pass to Ward on a 2-on-1 and Ward's shot deflected and beat Iles for the goal, leading to a goaltending change for the Jackals as Jason Kasdorf entered the game. Pollock then followed up with his 10th goal of the season as he fired through traffic and into the back of the net with 7:50 left in the game. Alber and Wall picked up the assists on the play, Alber's fourth point of the evening.

With the victory, the Thunder earned their 20th victory of the season as they improved to 20-13-4-3. Adirondack now sits tied for fourth in the North Division with the Brampton Beast with both teams at 47 points.

The two teams will square off again tomorrow evening at First Arena in Elmira, NY to complete a three-in-three for Adirondack. Puck drop is slated for 4:05 p.m. 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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