The Adirondack Thunder suffered a painful 3-2 OT loss to the Maine Mariners on Tuesday as they finished off a three-game sweep of the opposing Thunder that began last Friday in Glens Falls. Over the course of the three-game sweep, Maine managed to pick up four points in the standings which cuts the gap to only three points between Maine and Adirondack for fourth place. The Mariners also have four games in hand at the moment over the Thunder.
Sloppy play by the Thunder in the first period would lead to a Mariners goal early on as Jake Linhart would turn the puck over to Ted Hart who would get denied by Evan Cormier on the first attempt, but he would find his own rebound to give Maine the 1-0 lead. Turnovers would continue to cost Adirondack as early on in the game’s second frame, Nikita Popugaev would turn the puck over to Charles Wallin who would find Alex Kile, giving the Mariners a two-goal lead.
Adirondack would finally get on the board late in the first after trailing the Mariners as Maine took the game’s first penalty which would see Jake Linhart take a shot from the point which would be tipped by Casey Pierro-Zabotel to cut the deficit in half. This occurrence would take place just before the penalty was due to expire.
Adirondack would battle in the third period to net the game-tying goal against Maine and it would come late in the period when the Thunder had a five-on-three. This would find Robbie Payne positioned wide open on the left side of the net to tie the game up for Adirondack at two with less than three minutes remaining in the third. Once again, the visiting Thunder would be able to at least get a point after trailing the Mariners 2-1 heading into the game’s third and final period.
The Mariners would spoil the Thunder’s comeback as Dillan Fox would bank in the game-winner with just 39.1 seconds remaining in the overtime period in Maine. Evan Cormier would have himself a solid outing despite taking the loss to the Mariners 3-2. The 22-year-old backstop was able to stop 34 of the 37 shots he faced.
Adirondack will head home for a weekend series on Friday night against the Allen Americans who lead the ECHL with a record of 17-4-3-0. Puck drop for the first of two games is scheduled to take place at 7:00pm, meanwhile, Saturday’s game will see the puck drop at 5:00pmET.
Goals:
First Period:
17:29 MNE: Hart (5) from McNicholas
Second Period:
MNE: 5:57 Kile (4) from Ronning and Walsh
ADK: 18:23 Pierro-Zabotel (10) from Linhart and Payne (PP)
Third Period:
ADK: 17:04 Payne (7) from Szmatula and Linhart (PP)
OT:
MNE: 6:21 Fox (10) from Crawley and Ronning