THUNDER TOP EVERBLADES 4-1 TO TAKE WEEK-LONG SERIES

ESTERO, FL – James Henry recorded three points, Brian Ward notched his third goal in two nights and the Adirondack Thunder flew by the Florida Everblades 4-1 on Saturday night at Hertz Arena.

Matt Salhany got the Thunder on the board with a power-play goal at 9:03 of the opening period. Ward collected the puck at the left faceoff circle and attempted a shot that Everblades goaltender Jeremy Helvig knocked aside. Salhany found himself sitting on the doorstep and popped home a rebound shot up and over Helvig for a 1-0 Adirondack advantage.

Ward doubled the Thunder lead in the last minute of the first frame as his floating wrister found the back of the net with 48 seconds remaining. The Thunder’s all-time leading goal scorer skated with the puck from behind the Florida cage and all the way out to the center point. He turned and fluttered a shot looking for a tip in front, but instead Dylan Walchuk’s screen on Helvig allowed the soft shot to find twine for a 2-0 lead.

Kyle Platzer grabbed the only goal of the second period to get Florida back in the game. On a 3-on-2 rush, Joe Cox found Platzer with a cross-ice feed and the 23-year-old ripped a hard wrist-shot by Alex Sakellaropoulos to make it a 2-1 game.

Adirondack regained the momentum in the final period when captain James Henry tallied a beautiful goal off a redirection in front. Ward grinded along the right-wing boards for possession and kicked a pass back to Dylan Walchuk at the right point. Walchuk took a monstrous whack at the puck and sent it in front where Henry got his stick on it to deflect past Helvig for a 3-1 Thunder lead.

Walchuk collected the game’s final goal on an empty-net tally with just over two minutes remaining.

Alex Sakellaropoulos turned away 26 of 27 Florida shot attempts as he won for the tenth time in his past eleven starts.

The Thunder head back home before heading on the road again next week for a three games in three cities set. For the latest Thunder news, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ECHLThunder.

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