Thunder Heating Up Like Summers Time
The Adirondack Thunder won their second straight game on Friday night as they returned to Glens Falls, New York for their first game back from the ECHL All-Star break. “The break was kinda good for us. We didn’t really get a Christmas break the way our schedule was set up,” said Thunder forward Colby Sissons. The rest was noticeable as Adirondack would pick up four goals in the first as the two teams would combine for six goals in the opening frame.
Five of those goals came within a span of 3:09. Kelly Summers would open the scoring for Adirondack early on at the end of a five-on-three power play which was five seconds away from expiring. However, Brampton would tie the game in a blink of an eye just 23 seconds later as Erik Bradford would bank one in to give the Beasts a 2-1 lead. It would be all Adirondack for the remainder of the game’s first period.
Charlie Curti would feed Mike Szmatula who was in front of the net to tie the game back up for the Thunder. Colby Sissons would join the party just 1:06 later as the puck popped up in the air and ended up behind Brampton goaltender Alex Dubeau. Charlie Curti felt left out and decided to join in on the fun, picking up the fourth Thunder goal of the period as he got a gorgeous cross-ice pass from Ryan Walker would finish the night with two assists.
It would take the Thunder offence an outrageous six minutes and forty-five seconds to pick up their first goal of the second period as Ryan Walker would feed Nikita Popugaev who would one-time it home. This would not only give the Thunder a 5-2 lead, but would also end the night for Alex Dubeau. Dubeau would end up allowing five goals on 19 shots before getting the hook.
Despite not having Robbie Payne in the lineup, the Thunder did get back Connor Riley who has been out since November 29th. “It feels like three-times as long as I was out. You might be out for seven weeks, but it feels like the whole season with the number of games you’ve missed,” said Riley in a postgame interview in his first game back. Despite being the 10th forward, Riley did a little bit of everything on Friday night, including some penalty killing and got a thunderous ovation the first time he touched the ice.
Eamon McAdam made 30 saves for what would be his second straight win. This is the first time McAdam has won two straight games since December 1st and 4th, both on the road against Toledo and Brampton.
Goals:
First Period:
BRM: 7:24 Beauchemin (16) from Bradford and Leaf (PP)
ADK: 13:03 Summers (6) from Linhart and Phelan (PP)
BRM: 13:26 Bradford (13) from Beauchemin and Sparks
ADK: 14:08 Szmatuala (16) from Curti and Nazarian
ADK: 15:16 Sissons (3) from Szmatula and Edwardh
ADK: 16:12 Curti (8) from Walker and Nazarian
Second Period:
ADK: 6:25 Popugaev (6) from Walker and Jaeckle
Third Period:
BRM: 15:31 Sparks (16) from Bakker and Bradford
MS Squared Leads Adirondack Thunder To Victory
The Adirondack Thunder have their first three-game winning streak of the 2019-20 season after sweeping a quick two-game set in Glens Falls, New York against the Brampton Beast. Entering the weekend on home ice, Adirondack was 3-4-0-1 with all of those wins being recorded in Brampton. Like Friday night, the Thunder would once again fall behind early as Matt McLeod would beat Charlie Curti then backhand a shot past Eamon McAdam. Adirondack would respond on the power play as Matt Salhany would score up close, beating Alex Dubeau to tie the game up at one.
Adirondack would then take the lead as Casey Pierro-Zabotel would take a shot that would hit Dubeau’s skate and end up in the back of the net. Brampton didn’t enjoy being down, so they would tie the game up 0:24 seconds later as David Pecan would score his 12th of the season. Brampton, however, seemed to enjoy the penalty box as Charlie Curti would get his second in two nights after getting a nice pass from Colby Sissons and ripping it past Dubeau. Szmatula would wrap up the scoring with 15 seconds left to play in the first as he took a nice shot from about 15 feet out on the side of the net to give the Thunder a 4-2 lead after the opening frame.
Brampton would come out hot to start the period as they would pick up two goals in the first 3:11 to tie the game up at four and give Thunder fans a scare. Ryan Walker would give the Thunder the lead after deflecting a point shot from Jake Linhart to give Adirondack a 5-4 lead which they would keep for the rest of the game. Matt Salhany would receive a gift after John Edwardh had a breakaway but was stopped by Dubeau who came far out of his net which left a very juicy rebound which Salhany would tuck into the wide-open net. Salhany had a chance to get the hat-trick but missed the empty net late in the third but Kelly Summers would take advantage of the opportunity and net his seventh of the regular season.
Adirondack’s MS squared combo had a solid weekend in Glens Falls, New York as Mike Szmatuala did Szmatuala things once again during the two-game series against Brampton at home. The 27-year-old left-winger put up a total of five points registered, this including a pair of goals while also adding three assists to the mix. The other half of the MS squared group, Matt Salhany almost scored a hat-trick on Saturday night if he didn’t miss the empty net.
An unlikely name that put up some points during the two-game set was Ryan Walker. Walker had two assists on Friday night and a goal on Saturday night to go along with a team-leading nine shots on goal. “It’s really nice. It’s been a battle in the goal drought over the last month,” said Walker in a postgame interview after Saturday night’s game.
Eamon McAdam won both of his back-to-back starts despite only making 22 of 26 saves on Saturday. When asked why Eamon McAdam got the back-to-back starts on Friday and Saturday, head coach Alex Loh said, “I asked him if he wanted tonight or tomorrow and he wanted the start tonight.” This would allow Loh to bench him, paving way for Romeo to make the start on Sunday.
Goals:
First Period:
BRM: 0:33 McLeod (2) from Sparks
ADK: 4:10 Salhany (13) from Szmatuala and Sissons (PP)
ADK: 11:58 Pierro-Zabotel (19) from Linhart and Phelan
BRM: 12:22 Pacan (12) from Borque and Leef
ADK: 14:53 Curti (9) from Sissons and Szmatuala (PP)
ADK: 19:45 Szmatuala (17) from Salhany and Edwardh
Second Period:
BRM: 0:40 Melancon (6) from Miller (PP)
BRM: 3:11 Bakker (3) from Vallorani and Borque
ADK: 11:07 Walker (5) from Linhart and Parran
Third Period:
ADK: 11:49 Salhany (14) from Edwardh and Curti
ADK: 19:55 Summers (7) unassisted
Oh Romeo, Oh Romeo
Oh Romeo, my Romeo is what Thunder fans should be saying publicly as Sean Romeo picked up a 21 save shutout in his first game with Adirondack. However, despite the very solid debut for Romeo, it would once again be the offence that would steal the show in Sunday’s game, just as in the past two games.
It would only take the Thunder 1:28 to get on the board as Kelly Summers would feed John Edwartdh who would beat Ian Milosz five-hole to give Adirondack the early lead. At the 12:45 mark of the period, Casey Pierro-Zabotel would walk in all alone and net is 20th of the regular season. Zabotel becomes the first Thunder to reach the 20 goal plateau this season.
Adirondack would start the second up two, but would pour it on in the middle frame as they would pick up four goals in the period. Nikita Popugaev would open up the scoring a little under three minutes in as he would take a quick shot right off a Thunder face-off win. Matt Salhany would continue his dominance as he picked up two goals in the second period, including one on the power play which has started to click for Adirondack as of late. Popugaev would add another, not to be outdone by Salhany in Sunday’s game.
Sean Romeo would get his first shutout and it comes as no surprise as Loh spoke highly of him before his first start after Saturday night’s game. “He’s a good player. He’s bounced around a little bit with the way the goaltending situation works out and it’s dictated from above. Loh also mentioned he has no clue on if Evan Cormier will be back with the Thunder. Loh said “It’s a New Jersey thing.”
Adirondack will have a few days off before they play two crucial games against Maine on Wednesday and Friday night. The Thunder currently hold a one-point lead over Maine in the standings.
Goals:
First Period:
ADK: 1:28 Edwardh (13) from Summers and Szmatula
ADK: 12:45 Pierro-Zabotel (20) from Henry and Phelan
Second Period:
ADK: 2:55 Popugaev (7) from Walker
ADK: 6:14 Salhany (15) from Szmatuala and Henry (PP)
ADK: 16:02 Salhany (16) from Henry
ADK: 17:40 Popugaev (8) from Szmatuala
Third Period: No Scoring