THUNDER EARN POINT WITH LATE COMEBACK BUT FALL 6-5 TO READING IN SHOOTOUT

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder earned a valuable point in the standings but 6-5 in the shootout to the Reading Royals on Tuesday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The Royals opened the scoring less than a minute into the game as forward Mike Pereira scored just 48 seconds in. Robbie Czarnik sprang Pereira down the left wing on a partial breakaway where Pereira beat Adirondack netminder Mason McDonald with a blocker-side wrist shot from the left circle to put his team ahead 1-0. Czarnik and Justin Crandall collected the assists on the play, Crandall's 25th of the season.

The Thunder knotted the score at one with a quick-start goal of their own, this 28 seconds into the middle stanza. Defenseman Conor Riley took a feed from Kevin Lough and skated into the offensive end down the left wing. The University of Maine product fired a wrist shot from the left-hand circle that eluded Reading netminder Mark Dekanich for Riley's third goal of the season. Lough collected the lone assist on the play, his 10th of the season.

Adirondack took its first lead of the evening at the 4:25 mark of the middle stanza as Stepan Falkovsky found the back of the net to put the Thunder ahead 2-1. Falkovsky took a pass from Thunder captain Peter MacArthur, rounded the Reading defense and went backhand-to-forehand for his 15th goal of the season. MacArthur and forward Brock Montgomery collected the assists on the play, MacArthur's sixth straight home game with a point.

Reading came back to tie the game at two at the 9:48 mark of the second period. After forward Ian Watters won a faceoff in the offensive end, the puck fell to Tyrell Goulbourne, who wrapped it around the net and between the legs of McDonald for the game-tying goal. The tally was Goulbourne's seventh of the season while Watters picked up the assist on the play, his 16th.

The visitors closed out the third period with two goals in quick succession to take a 4-2 lead into the break. First, at the 17:31 mark of the second period, forward Ryan Penny collected an Olivier Labelle rebound and placed his shot around McDonald for his 15th goal of the season. Just over a minute later, Czarnik doubled Reading's advantage as he fired a turn-around wrist shot into the back of the net from close range for his 18th tally of the season.

Just 3:02 into the third period, Adirondack closed the gap to 4-3 as James Henry buried his 12th goal of the season. Defenseman Alex Wall carried the puck through the offensive zone and fed Henry, who was positioned in the slot, and the Thunder alternate captain placed a shot past Dekanich for the goal. Wall collected the lone assist on the play, his team-leading 29th of the season.

Just over four minutes later, however, Reading regained its two-goal lead as Czarnik scored for the second time on the evening at the 7:25 mark of the third period. After a shot from Florian Iberer missed the net wide, the puck caromed to Czarnik positioned at the back post, who tapped it home for the goal. Iberer and Crandall collected the assists on the play, the second point of the game for Crandall.

The Thunder surged back in the game’s final five minutes to force overtime with a pair of goals. Brock Montgomery struck first with 4:26 left in the third period as he buried a one-timer from the high slot that beat Dekanich through the five hole for his third goal in three games with the Thunder. With just 18 seconds left in regulation, Adirondack drew level as MacArthur collected his own rebound and fired in to the top corner of the net for his 14th goal of the season. Montgomery and Patch Alber collected the assists on the play, Alber’s 23rd of the season.

Overtime featured a season-high 12 combined shots as Adirondack put five shots on net but neither side was able to break the deadlock. After round one of the shootout saw no goals, Nick Luukko was able to beat McDonald in round two for the lone goal of the skills competition. Dekanich stopped MacArthur in round three to seal the game for Reading.

Adirondack moves to 26-14-4-4 on the season with the shootout loss which moves them into third place in the North Division, one point behind Reading.

The Thunder hit the road for three games this week, with the first coming on Friday evening against the Atlanta Gladiators, the first meeting of the season between the two teams. 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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