BRAMPTON, ON – Mike Szmatula netted his team-leading 26th score of the season, but that was the only time the Adirondack Thunder could solve Etienne Marcoux in a 4-1 loss to the Brampton Beast Saturday evening in Ontario.
After Brampton jumped out to a 3-0 lead, Szmatula got Adirondack on the board when he finished a nice pass from James Henry. Peter MacArthur chipped the puck into the offensive zone where Henry split the Brampton defense. The Thunder captain pulled a quick deke before dropping a pass for Szmatula who finished from the left side of the net. The goal was Szmatula’s team-leading 26th while MacArthur’s assist extended his point streak to six consecutive games.
Marcoux was a brick wall in net for Brampton and the 25-year-old finished the night with 40 saves. The Canadian goaltender also has the most saves in a game against the Thunder this season when he turned aside 48 on January 19 at Cool Insuring Arena.
Eric Schierhorn made his professional debut in goal for Adirondack and he finished his first game with 27 saves. The University of Minnesota product signed an ATO with the Thunder earlier this week.
The Beast used goals from four different skaters to beat Adirondack on this evening. Jordan Henry collected a rebound goal in the first period after Schierhorn made the initial save on the shot from Dan Leavens.
Nathan Todd and Francois Beauchemin potted second-period goals to bring the Beast lead to three. Todd redirected a centering feed from Artur Tianulin past Schierhorn before Beauchemin beat the goaltender with a snipe of a shot off a nifty drop-pass from Anthony Beauregard.
Tianulin recorded a power-play goal less than three minutes after Szmatula got Adirondack on the board for the game’s 4-1 final.
The two sides will battle again tomorrow afternoon – puck drop is slated for 2:00 p.m. from CAA Centre in Brampton. For the latest Thunder news, follow the team on all social media @ECHLThunder.
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