THUNDER BEST THE BEAST IN 4-3 SHOOTOUT VICTORY

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder completed an undefeated weekend with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Brampton Beast on Saturday evening in front of over 4,000 fans on Teddy Bear Toss night at Cool Insuring Arena.

The Thunder got a goal and an assist from Ben Murphy, along with goals from Pierre-Luc Mercier and Andrew Radjenovic to win for the second straight night. Goaltender Drew Fielding turned aside 32 of the 35 shots he faced, in addition to eight saves on nine shots in the shootout for his second victory of the season.

Just shy of the halfway mark of the first period, Murphy brought the teddy bears raining down from the rafters with the game’s first tally. Murphy went in alone on a breakaway that saw him skate away from Cody Donaghey and after his first shot missed the net, he slotted the rebound past Brampton netminder Marcus Holberg for his first goal as a member of the Thunder. Murphy’s goal, his second overall this season, was recorded as unassisted.

The Beast came back with a pair of goals of their own, however, starting with Reggie Traccitto’s tally at the 12:46 mark of the opening period. The Brampton blueliner fired a low-angle shot from just above the goal line on the left wing, off of a feed from Scott Jacklin from the trapezoid that beat Fielding to knot the score at one. Brampton would then take the lead just 39 seconds later on a backhand finish from Chris Leveille to cap off a 2-on-1 rush with Alex Foster that originated at the Adirondack blue line. Foster and Brandon Marino collected the assists on Leveille’s goal, the 11th of the season for Marino.

The Thunder continued to apply the pressure late in the first period and were rewarded as Mercier scored on the power play for the third straight game. The 6-1 center took a pass from defenseman Kevin Lough and fired home from top of the left-hand faceoff dot to tie the game at two with 59 seconds to play in the opening period. Mercier’s goal marked his sixth of the season with Lough and forward Terrence Wallin collecting assists on the play, the seventh helper of the season for Wallin.

Following a successful Adirondack penalty kill midway through the second period, the visitors found the back of the net to take their second lead of the evening. Jacklin scored at the 9:17 mark of the middle stanza as he capitalized on a rebound in front of Fielding and scored high on the glove side to restore Brampton’s lead. Jacklin’s goal, his fourth of the season, was assisted by forward Colin Martin, his second of the season.

Adirondack came back again to tie the game, this at three goals apiece, with three minutes left in the second period. With the puck in the Brampton zone, Murphy slid a pass down the right-hand wall into the corner for Radjenovic, who drove to the front of the net and beat Hogberg through the five hole for his first goal in a Thunder jersey. Murphy and defenseman Dylan Olsen picked up the helpers on the play, the second point of the evening for Murphy.

After a pair of saves from Fielding in the final ten seconds of regulation preserved the tie, Adirondack had the better of the chances in the extra session but could not convert as the game went into the shootout. Mercier and Brampton’s Chris Leveille each scored in the first three rounds and following five attempts for each team with no goals, Murphy fired home the game-winner in round nine, followed by the game-ending save from Fielding on Brampton’s Eric Yiltalo.

The Thunder are back in action next weekend as they host Reading on Friday evening and Norfolk on Saturday, with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. on both evenings. Tickets are available for all Thunder home game by visiting ECHLThunder.com or calling 518-480-3355 x1.

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Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team