FALKOVSKYS HAT TRICK BESTS THE BEAST IN 4-3 VICTORY

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder got three goals in regulation, in addition to the shootout winner, from defenseman Stepan Falkovsky as they powered to a 4-3 victory in the shootout over the Brampton Beast. The Thunder win was watched by 5,135 fans at the Glens Falls Civic Center as the Thunder set a franchise record for attendance.

Adirondack opened the scoring as they found the back of the net for the second straight game on the man advantage. With Brampton forward David Ling in the box for hooking, forward Dennis Kravchenko fed defenseman Stepan Falkovsky at the right-hand point. The 6-7 blueliner fired a shot towards the net that redirected off a Beast stick and past netminder Andrew D’Agostini for the game’s first goal. Kravchenko and Brett Pollock collected the assists on the play, Pollock’s 16th of the season.

The hosts doubled their advantage as Falkovsky struck again with his second power-play goal of the evening 9:23 into the second period. After Falkovsky and Kravchenko exchanged passes at the offensive blueline, the Thunder center fed the puck back to Falkovsky in the right-hand circle, where the Belarus native wired home a one-timer for his 19th goal of the season. With the two power-play goals, Falkovsky assumed the ECHL lead with 13 on the season, while Kravchenko collected his fourth multi-point effort in five games with his second helper of the evening.

The Beast knotted the score at two with a pair of goals early in the third period. Brampton got on the board just 29 seconds into the final period of regulation as Connor Crisp beat Adirondack netminder Tom McCollum for his ninth goal of the season. The visitors then tied the game at the 8:50 mark of the third as Mathieu Gagnon sent a pass towards the front of the net that deflected off of a Thunder skate and into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

Falkovsky completed the hat trick as he put Adirondack back on top with 6:07 to play in the third period with his third power-play goal of the evening. Cullen Bradshaw, positioned in the left-hand corner, fed the puck to Falkovsky in the high slot, where he fired a wrist shot through traffic and past D’Agostini for his first career professional hat trick. Falkovsky’s goal was his team-leading 20th tally of the season with Bradshaw and Gunnar Hughes collecting the assists on the play, the 11th of the season for Hughes.

Brampton forced overtime with a goal just 3:33 from the end of regulation as forward Chris Auger netted his 15th of the season to tie the game at three. Auger took a feed from Tim Bilingsley in the slot and put the puck past McCollum and into the back of the net. Bilingsley and Crisp collected the assists on the play, the 20th of the season for Billingsley.

After an overtime period that saw a flurry of chances but no goals, the game moved into a shootout. After McCollum denied Brampton’s first shooter, forward David Pacan, Falkovsky stepped up and delivered the game-winning goal, his first career shootout tally. After neither team scored in the second round, McCollum turned aside Lucas Venuto’s attempt in the third round to earn the Thunder the two points.

With the victory, Adirondack climbs into sole possession of second place in the North Division with a 29-14-6-4 record, good for 68 points in the standings.

The Thunder now hit the road for four straight away from the Civic Center, beginning on Tuesday morning with an 11:00 a.m. puck drop in Brampton. 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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