THUNDER WIN OVERTIME THRILLER OVER READING

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder defeated the Reading Royals in thrilling overtime fashion, a 3-2 victory on Saturday evening at a sold-out Cool Insuring Arena. The crowd of 5,445 marked a franchise record for the Thunder, surpassing the previous mark by more than 300 fans.

Adirondack got goals in regulation from defenseman Desmond Bergin and forward Troy Bourke, in addition to the overtime game-winning goal from forward James Henry. Goaltender Drew Fielding made 26 saves between the pipes as he earned his 13th victory of the season.

After a scoreless first period, Bergin opened the scoring for the second consecutive game as he scored his 12th goal of the season. After he took a feed from Paul Rodrigues, Bergin, stationed at the right point, stepped in and wired a slap shot, through a heavy screen and past Reading netminder Mark Dekanich. Rodrigues collected the lone assist on the play, his 12th of the season.

Reading knotted the score at one just under five minutes later as forward Chris McCarthy converted on the power play. With the Thunder shorthanded, Willows sent a cross-ice feed to McCarthy, who fired a slap shot past Fielding from the top of the right-hand circle for the game-tying goal. Willows and defenseman Nolan Zajac collected the assists on the play, the 20th of the season for Zajac.

Adirondack returned fire just past the midway point of the second period to take the lead for the second time on the evening. At the 11:33 mark of the middle stanza, Bourke collected the puck on the left wing, skated around the Reading net and sent the puck off of a Royals’ defenseman and past Dekanich for the go-ahead goal, his fourth tally of the season. Forward Shane Conacher picked up the lone assist on the play, his 32nd of the season.

The Royals tied the game 2:32 into the third period as Scott Tanski capitalized on an Adirondack turnover in its own end to level the score at two. After the Thunder were unable to clear their own zone, the puck slithered through the slot to Tanski, who shot over Fielding’s right shoulder for his second goal of the season. Tanski’s tally was recorded as unassisted.

After neither team broke the deadlock in regulation, the game proceeded to a 3-on-3 overtime session. Forward Pierre-Luc Mercier hit Henry on a breakaway from inside his own zone and the veteran winger beat Dekanich high on the glove side for the game-winning goal, his 17th tally of the season. Mercier and Fielding collected the assists on the play, Fielding’s first of the season.

The Thunder are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they host the Wheeling Nailers for the first time this season, with puck drop slated for 3:00 p.m. Visit ECHLThunder.com or call 518-480-3355 x1 to get tickets for tomorrow and all upcoming Thunder home games.

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