THUNDER BREAK TY WITH 36 SECONDS LEFT IN 3-2 WIN

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder broke a 2-2 deadlock with just 36 seconds left in regulation as they skated past the Reading Royals by a 3-2 final on Tuesday evening at Cool Insuring Arena.

Forward Ty Loney scored the game-winning goal for Adirondack in the game’s final minute while Pierre-Luc Mercier and Desmond Bergin also found the back of the net for the hosts. With the victory, the Thunder moved into a three-way tie with Manchester and Wheeling for first place in the North Division.

The visitors opened the scoring at the 6:38 mark of the opening period as forward Matt Willows scored his 14th goal of the season to put the Royals ahead by one. Willows took a feed from defenseman Matias Cleland, used a Thunder defenseman as a screen and fired past Fielding for the game’s first goal. Cleland and defenseman Nolan Zajac collected the assists on the play, Zajac’s 17th of the season.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Adirondack knotted the score at one as Mercier found the back of the net at the 18:56 mark of the opening stanza. Stationed below the goal line, Loney fed Mercier at the bottom of the left-hand circle, where he one timed his shot past Reading netminder John Muse for his 12th goal of the season. Loney and defenseman Desmond Bergin collected the assists on the play, Bergin’s 21st of the season.

Adirondack took its first lead of the evening 5:28 into the middle stanza as Bergin collected his ninth goal of the season. Defenseman Dylan Olsen sent a cross-ice pass to Bergin, stationed in the right-hand circle, where he walked in and sniped a shot underneath the crossbar for his ninth goal of the season. Olsen and Mercier collected the assists on the play, Mercier’s second point of the evening.

The Royals answered back with a goal less than five minutes from the end of the second period as forward Tyler Brown buried his third goal of the season. Just seconds after Matt Wilkins nearly beat Fielding from the slot, he collected the puck in the corner and fed Brown in the left-hand circle, where he fired over Fielding’s glove for the game-tying goal. Wilkins and Willows collected the helpers on the play, Wilkins’ 12th assist of the season.

After a third period that saw more than 19 minutes of scoreless hockey, Adirondack won the game with 36 seconds on the clock via Loney’s 19th tally of the season. After defenseman Mathieu Brodeur’s shot from the point was tipped on net by Loney, which was denied by the pad of Muse, the rebound fell directly to Loney and he whacked it home for the game-winning goal. Brodeur collected the lone helper on the play, his 13th of the season.

The Thunder are away for the next 17 days, including a pair of road games this weekend against the Worcester Railers and Manchester Monarchs. Adirondack returns home on Friday, February 16 as they host the Brampton Beast at Cool Insuring Arena. Visit ECHLThunder.com/fourpack or call 518-480-3355 x1 to get your UNO’s Four Pack.

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Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team