Adirondack Derailed by Worcester 5-1

WORCESTER, MA – The Adirondack Thunder fell at the hands of the Worcester Railers on Saturday night by a final score of 5-1. The result was the Thunder's first loss of the season.Three first period goals by the Railers put the Thunder into a hole that they could not crawl out of. Adirondack was outshot 13-3 in the first period and ended up getting bested in the shot column 31-25. Michael McNiven stopped 26 of 31 shots that he faced while Railers' netminder, Jakub Skarek, turned away 24 of 25. The Thunder special teams had six chances on the man-advantage and four on the penalty kill. Adirondack was unable to convert on any of their powerplay opportunities and killed 3-of-4 penalties taken. Scoring Plays

• The Railers hit the back of the net just two seconds after a powerplay expired. Tanner Pond took a shot that was turned away by Michael McNiven but ended up right on the stick of Jordan Samuels-Thomas who buried it past the Thunder netminder. The time of the goal was 4:10 of the first period.
• Worcester would extend their lead just 3:47 later when a Kyle Thomas wrister would beat McNiven's glove and put the Railers up 2-0. Bo Brauer and Connor Doherty picked up the helpers.
• Barry Almeida would blast a shot from the blue line through traffic on a 5-on-3 powerplay for Worcester's third goal of the period. Nic Pierog and JD Dudek were credited on the assists at 11:34.
• Worcester would waste little time in the second period as Ryan Hitchcock buried the puck after a goalmouth scramble just 19 seconds into the middle frame to put the Railers ahead 4-0 from Nic Pierog and Matt Schmalz. 
• The Thunder would finally find an answer when Matt Salhany cut off a puck in the offensive zone and sent it over to Felix Girard. Girard would find Ryan Walker on the backdoor to pull Adirondack within three at 16:05 of the second period. 
• JD Dudek would curb Adirondack's surge with a nice move to beat Michael McNiven and pick up his second point of the night at 5:22 of the third. The goal came after a nice transition play from Kyle Thomas and Jordan Samuels-Thomas.

Thunder Notes

• Ryan Walker's goal was his first professional goal.
• The Thunder had 13 penalty minutes, including a Blake Thompson fighting major in the first period.
• Six Adirondack skaters finished with a -2 on the night.

Up NextThe Thunder will head to Brampton, Ontario to battle the Beast on Monday at 12:35 p.m. It will be the first time the two teams meet this season. Brampton fell to the Toledo Walleye, 4-3, to kick off their 2019-20 campaign on Saturday night.  Follow the ThunderFor more information on the Adirondack Thunder, follow along on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (@ECHLThunder) and on the web at ECHLThunder.com

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