Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder returned to home ice for the first time in 17 days but fell 5-1 against the Brampton Beast on Friday evening at Cool Insuring Arena.
Thunder forward Brian Ward extended his goal-scoring streak to five games with his team’s lone tally, his 20th goal of the season. Drew Fielding and Tomas Sholl combined to make 35 saves in net, including 22 saves on 23 shots by Sholl in relief.
Brampton opened the scoring with a pair of first period goals to take a 2-0 lead. First, 2:31 into the game, defenseman Reggie Traccitto opened the scoring as he fired a shot from the right point that found its way through traffic and past Fielding for his 11th goal of the season. The Beast struck again just past the halfway point of the opening period as forward Alex Foster scored a power-play goal off of a Jamie Doornbosch rebound to put the visitors ahead by a pair. Doornbosch and forward Brandon Marino tallied the assists on the play, Marino’s 31st of the season.
The Beast doubled their advantage in the middle stanza as they scored a pair of goals just over three minutes apart to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission. First, at the 6:20 mark of the second period, defenseman Tyson Wilson exited the penalty box to a stretch pass that led him on a breakaway, which he buried for his first goal of the season. Brampton struck again at the 9:22 as forward Brandon MacLean scored his team’s second power-play goal of the evening for the four-goal advantage. MacLean’s goal ended Fielding’s evening as Sholl entered for the remainder of the contest.
Brampton extended its lead to five goals with less than five minutes remaining in regulation as defenseman Cody Donaghey collected his fourth goal of the season. Donaghey took a feed from forward Jackson Leef in the high slot and wired a shot over the shoulder of Sholl for the goal. Leef collected the lone assist on the play, his fourth assist of the season.
Adirondack got on the board with 20 seconds remaining in the game as Ward scored his 20th goal of the season. After he took a feed from forward Terrence Wallin, Ward skated into the offensive zone down the right wing, cut towards the net and roofed a backhanded shot over Brampton netminder Chris Dreidger to get the Thunder on the board. Wallin and defenseman Blake Thompson collected the assists on the play, Wallin’s 18th of the season.
The Thunder and Beast head north of the border for a rematch on Monday afternoon in Brampton, with puck drop slated for 2:00 p.m. Visit ECHLThunder.com or call 518-480-3355 x1 to get tickets for any upcoming Thunder home game.
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Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team