Worcester, MA – The Adirondack Thunder were unable to lock up a berth in the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs on their first attempt as they fell 2-0 to the Worcester Railers on Wednesday evening at the DCU Center.
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Worcester got on the board first as forward Nick Saracino redirected home his 11th goal of the season. 8:41 into the middle stanza, defenseman Ben Masella’s shot from the top of the right-hand circle deflected off of Saracino’s upper body and past Appleby for the game’s first goal. Masella and forward Barry Almeida collected the assists on the play, Almeida’s 34th helper of the season.
Worcester added a late insurance goal to ice the game as forward Matt Lane found the back of the net 3:05 from the final buzzer. Forward Woody Hudson sent a backhanded shot from the left-hand circle towards the net, which was deflected off the post, and the rebound bounced behind Appleby to Lane, who tapped it in for his 14th tally of the season. Hudson collected the lone assist on the play, his ninth of the season.
Goaltender Ken Appleby returned to the Adirondack lineup for the first time this season and turned aside 28 of the 30 shots he faced in his debut.
Adirondack is back in action again this weekend with a pair of games at Cool Insuring Arena, beginning on Saturday evening against the Reading Royals, with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. Visit ECHLThunder.com or call 518-480-3355 x1 to get tickets for all upcoming Thunder home games.
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Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team
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