MACARTHURS HAT TRICK POWERS THUNDER TO 6-4 WIN

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder, powered by Peter MacArthur’s second hat trick of the season, skated to a 6-4 victory in front of nearly 4,500 fans on Saturday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Just 2:16 into the game, Adirondack Captain Peter MacArthur kicked off the scoring for the evening as he netted his 18th goal of the season. After he collected a pass from forward Brock Montgomery, MacArthur made a slick move to the net and after his first shot as denied, he batted the puck out of the air on the backhand for the game's first goal. Montgomery was awarded the lone assist on the play, his 12th of the season.

Just 1:08 later, however, Manchester responded with a goal of their own which came while the Thunder were on the man advantage. Monarchs' forward Ashton Rome gained control of the puck at center ice and broke away from the Thunder defense, moved in on Adirondack netminder Mason McDonald and fired a wrist shot under the cross bar for his tenth goal of the season.

The Thunder regained their one-goal advantage at the 5:56 mark of the first period as Montgomery collected his seventh goal of the season. Forward Chris Porter battled for control of the puck in the offensive zone before he fed Montgomery at the left point, who sent a wrist shot through traffic and past Manchester netminder, Colin Stevens. Porter tallied the only assist on the play, his second of the season.

Adirondack extended its lead to a pair of goals as rookie blueliner Keegan Kanzig found the back of the net for the first time in his professional career. In the attacking zone, Kravchenko sent a cross-ice pass to Kanzig at the left-hand circle, where the 6-6 defenseman sent a one-time shot to the top corner of the net. Kravchenko and forward James Henry collected assists on the play, Kravchenko’s 18th and Henry’s 24th assist of the season.

Manchester clawed back to within a goal just 2:27 into the second period as forward Matt Leitner scored his 13th goal of the season. The newest addition to the Monarchs, Peter LeBlanc, cleared the Manchester zone before sending the puck cross-ice to Leitner. Leitner carried the puck past the Adirondack defensemen and scored on a backhand top shelf goal. LeBlanc was rewarded with the assist, his 21st of the season.

While on the man advantage, Adirondack regained its two-goal lead as MacArthur scored his second of the evening. After controlling the puck off of the faceoff, the trio of MacArthur, Kravchenko and defenseman Patch Alber possessed the puck along the blueline, leading to a MacArthur shot from the left circle that beat Stevens for the 4-2 lead and MacArthur's 18th goal of the season. Alber and Kravchenko collected the assists on the play, Kravchenko's second on the evening.

The Monarchs once again fought back to close their deficit to a single goal as Leitner struck again, this on the power play, for his second goal of the evening. The forward carried the puck around the arc of the faceoff circle before he cut towards the goal and slid a wrist shot into the far side of the net. The tally for Leitner, his 14th of the season, went as unassisted.

With 1:28 left in the second period, rookie defenseman Stepan Falkovsky found the back of the net for 21st time this season. Forward J.C. Compagna found the stick of Falkovsky at center ice and the Belarussian showcased his stickhandling skills as he danced around the Manchester defense and beat Stevens top shelf from the bottom of the left-hand circle. Campagna tallied the lone assist on the play as he extended his point streak to three games.

Manchester once again fought back to reduce the Adirondack lead to a single goal as they scored with 5:51 to play in regulation. After Adirondack failed in an attempt to clear their defensive zone, the puck fell to defenseman Chris Leone at the left point, where he flung a shot on net that eluded McDonald for his third goal of the season.

With 39.9 seconds left in the game, Adirondack secured the weekend sweep of the Monarchs with an empty net goal from MacArthur to complete his second hat trick of the season. Alber was awarded the only assist on the play, his second of the night and fourth point in three games.

With the victory, Adirondack improves to 31-18-6-4 on the season, good for 72 points. The Thunder sit in the fourth and final playoff position in the North Division standings, one point shy of both Brampton and Manchester for second place.

The Thunder conclude their three-in-three set tomorrow afternoon as they host the Beast in a 3:00 p.m. matinee at the Civic Center. Adirondack Thunder individual and group ticket packages are also available for just $13 per t¬icket 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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