THUNDER CONCLUDE WEEKEND WITH 4-1 LOSS TO WORCESTER

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder concluded their weekend with a 4-1 loss to the Worcester Railers on Sunday evening at Cool Insuring Arena.

Forward Troy Bourke scored the lone goal for Adirondack, his tenth tally of the season. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves in his first start back with the Thunder since early January.

Worcester opened the scoring as forward Frankie DiChiara netted power-play goal just past the halfway mark of the opening period. Forward Barry Almeida held the puck at the goal line extended and shifted a pass to DiChiara at the high point. The rookie forward corralled the puck and fired a slap-shot that beat Blackwood high on the glove side for his eighth tally of the season. Almeida and defenseman Mike Cornell picked up the assists on the play, Cornell’s 19th of the season.

The Thunder tied the game with a power-play goal of their own as Bourke connected at the 13:43 mark of the second period. Forward Ryan Schmelzer jockeyed for possession behind the Worcester net and won the puck battle to Shane Conacher in the left faceoff dot. Conacher sent a pass to Bourke at the point, where he fired a one-timer past Worcester netminder Mitch Gillam for his tenth tally of the season. Conacher's 43rd assist of the year extended his home scoring streak to six games and Schmelzer's helper was his sixth point in five games since donning an Adirondack sweater.

TJ Syner regained the Railers' one goal advantage with just over four minutes to play in the middle frame. Syner took a pass while skating into the offensive zone and put a shot on net that got deflected into the air. The puck settled out in front of Blackwood where Syner found it again and flipped a wrister past the Adirondack netminder for his ninth goal of the season. Nick Saracino and Matthew Gaudreau were credited with the assists, the 14th helper of the year for Gaudreau.

The Railers doubled their lead midway through the third period as DiChiara collected his second goal of the evening. After an Adirondack turnover, the visitors entered the zone on a 2-on-1 rush and forward Josh Holmstrom fed DiChiara at the back post for a tap-in goal. Holmstrom and forward Matt Lane collected the assists on the play, Holmstrom’s first of the season.

The visitors added an empty-net goal in the game’s final ten seconds as defenseman Mike Cornell found the back of the net from his own defensive end for his fifth goal of the season.

Adirondack is back in action next week for their final two games of the regular season, beginning on Friday evening against the Manchester Monarchs on Fan Appreciation Night at Cool Insuring Arena. Visit ECHLThunder.com or call 518-480-3355 x1 to get tickets for all upcoming Thunder home games.

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