THUNDER WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT BEHIND BACK-TO-BACK WINS OVER MONARCHS

GLENS FALLS, NY – Devin Buffalo stopped 39 of the 41 shots he faced in his first action for Adirondack, Matt Salhany recorded his second straight multi-point game and the Thunder topped the Monarchs for the second consecutive night by a 3-2 final at Cool Insuring Arena.

Buffalo logged over 54 minutes of scoreless hockey before a late flurry of Manchester shots ended his shutout bid. It was the 25-year-old’s first start and first appearance in a Thunder sweater and he made it a memorable one in a 2nd Star of the game performance. The Dartmouth College product’s 39 saves were a professional career-high for himself and a season-high for any Thunder netminder.

After a goalless first period, Blake Thompson opened the game’s scoring with a rebound goal less than a minute into the second frame. John Edwardh fired a shot from the right side, the puck deflected off James Henry’s stick and right to a waiting Thompson. The defenseman played the puck to himself off his skate and flipped it past Charles Williams for his second score of the year and a 1-0 Thunder lead.

Salhany doubled the Adirondack advantage on a power-play goal with less than a second remaining in the middle period. The Warwick, RI native found Shane Conacher at the center point for a booming slap-shot, then collected the rebound in front of the net and fired past Williams for his fifth tally of the season.

Cullen Bradshaw extended the Thunder lead to three goals off a slick redirection from a Kevin Lough centering feed. Lough took a Salhany pass in stride and carried the puck with speed down the left wing. The quick defenseman put a heavy pass in front of the Manchester net that Bradshaw deflected top-shelf with his backhand for the third consecutive Adirondack tally.

Manchester crept back into the game with a pair of power-play goals in the contest’s final six minutes. First, it was Nic Pierog who finished a rebound opportunity off a Daniil Miromanov shot to get the Monarchs on the board. David Kolomatis cut the lead to one goal when he blasted a loose puck from the top of the right faceoff circle by a screened Buffalo to make it a 3-2 game.

That was all the offense Manchester could muster as Buffalo shut the door in the game’s final 3:33 to preserve the victory. 

Adirondack finishes their three games in four days stretch when the Newfoundland Growlers come to town on New Year’s Eve Monday evening for a 5:00 p.m. showdown between the North Division’s top two teams. Tickets are just “2 For $20.19” and can be purchased at ECHLThunder.com or by stopping into the Thunder office, open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m tomorrow.

###Adirondack Thunder Hockey – This Is Our Team