THUNDER INVADE FORT WAYNE IN 4-2 VICTORY

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder earned their first road victory of the season with a 4-2 win over the Fort Wayne Komets on Friday evening at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

The Komets struck first with a power-play goal less than nine minutes into the game. Already on their third man advantage of the evening, the hosts capitalized as Fort Wayne forward Zac Larazza fed a pass to teammate Jamie Schaafsma at the goal line, where he drove to the front of the net and scored on the second of two shots for the game's first goal. Schaafsma's goal was his second of the season with Larazza and Artur Tyanulin picking up the assists on the play.

Adirondack tied the game at one just 1:59 later, however, as Brian Ward found the back of the net for the fourth consecutive game. Forward Shane Conacher wired a slap shot on goal, that was denied by Fort Wayne goaltender Michael Houser, but Ward crashed the net and slotted home the rebound for the game-tying goal. Conacher and defenseman Mike Bergin collected the assists on the play, Conacher's fourth point in as many games with the Thunder.

The Thunder scored twice in the middle stanza to open up a two-goal lead. First, Adirondack took the lead just 66 seconds into the second period as Conacher beat Houser for his second goal of the season. After Houser denied Loney's first shot, Ward deflected the rebound to Conacher at the back post where he knocked it into the net for the goal. Paul Rodrigues then got on the board at the 15:34 mark of the middle stanza, converting an Eric Neiley feed in front for his first goal with the Thunder to push the visitors’ advantage to a pair of goals.

Just 1:13 from the end of the second period, Fort Wayne pulled a goal back as Tyanulin collected his second point of the evening. After moving the puck around the Adirondack zone, defenseman Jason Binkley fired a shot towards the Thunder net, which was kicked aside by Thunder goaltender Nick Riopel, but the rebound fell directly to Tyanulin who buried it for his second goal of the season. Binkley and Larazza collected the assists on the play, Larazza’s second point of the evening.

After the Komets were awarded a golden opportunity with an early third-period penalty shot, which was denied by Riopel, Adirondack regained its two-goal advantage as Terrence Wallin scored 4:42 into the final period of regulation. Leading a 2-on-1 rush with Rodrigues, Wallin fired a pass in the direction of Rodrigues that kicked off of a Fort Wayne defenseman and into the back of the net for the goal, Wallin’s third of the season. Rodrigues and forward Tim Harrison collected the assists on the play, Rodrigues’ second point of the evening.

The Thunder are currently in the midst of a 12-game road trip, which continues tomorrow evening as they square off against the Cincinnati Cyclones, with puck drop slated for 7:35 p.m. The Thunder are next home on Saturday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m., which begins a seven-game homestand at Cool Insuring Arena.

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