It was a rough weekend for the Thunder as they suffered yet another sweep and their fifth straight loss after losing 4-1 on Friday night, then losing a shootout thriller on Saturday evening. With the two losses, this cuts the gap to only two-point between the fourth-place Thunder and fifth place Marieners. Even with a five-game losing streak, Adirondack has gotten a point in three of those five games in which head coach Alex Loh called “moral victories.”
When asked about the shootout loss to the Americans on Sunday night, head coach Alex Loh said, “I think we’re a good team, we should be able to beat anyone, we beat Toledo last week and there a good team”
Friday Night
The Thunder lost a tough battle on Friday night at Cool Insuring Arena as they lost by a final score of 4-1 to the visiting Allen Americans. Adirondack looked hot early on in the first of two as they quickly took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
That would be courtesy of a goal off the stick of Alex Carrier. Carrier would end up playing a very solid game on both ends of the ice and would lead the Adirondack Thunder with a total of seven shots on goal. His efforts would not go unnoticed as he was named the third star of the game.
It wouldn’t be long before Allen would knot the game up at one as Allen’s Josh Brittian would skate through two Thunder defensemen than beat Evan Cormier for his sixth of the year. Adirondack would continue to hold their own in the second period as James Henry would hit the post on the breakaway while Nikita Popugaev would also hit the crossbar again during the Thunder’s first power play of the night. Jordan Topping would help the Americans run away with the game in the third as he would pick up two goals in the frame, this handing Allen a 4-1 victory.
Topping’s first goal of the night would come on a shot that went right through the five-hole of Thunder goaltender Evan Cormier. He would add an empty netter for the Americans late in the third period. However, the game didn’t end without some excitement in the final minutes as a scrum would then ensue after Topping banked in the empty netter. Leading the charge in the scrum would be none other than Gabriel Verpaelst, who at this time, currently leads the Thunder with a total of 49 penalty minutes.
This would be the second straight game in which the Thunder would allow at least 30 shots. “We always try to focus on the defense end of things, but I think we can do a better job of making sure we’re on the right side of the puck and limiting grade-A opportunities,” said head coach Alex Loh after Friday’s defeat.
Goals:
First Period:
ADK: 1:49 Carrier (3) from Sissons and Pierro-Zabotel
ALN: 6:54 Brittain (6) from Brenton
Second Period:
ALN: 7:29 Sheehy (9) from Topping and Pollock
Third Period:
ALN: 5:20 Topping (6) unassisted
ALN: 19:07 Topping (7) from Sheehy
Saturday Night
It was SpongeBob night on Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, New York and the Thunder had some god awful jerseys to show for it. “They’re bad, They’re ugly,” said head coach Alex Loh when asked about them.
Adirondack would start right where they left off on Friday night and fell behind early as Gabriel Gagne and Cole Fraser would both pick up goals within the first 10:30 of the game’s first period. Things wouldn’t get better as the play in the first frame continued as the Thunder, at 13:44, would lose Alex Carrier for the remainder of the game. This would be the case after he was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.
The Thunder would end up killing the five-minute power play that was given to the Americans. This would ultimately shift them momentum heading into the game’s second period. Once the middle frame began, Adirondack would score four times which would be led by a three-point period from Colby Sissons. “I was just getting the bounces tonight. Some nights you do, some nights you don’t,” said Sissons when commenting on his four-point night. Gabriel Verpaeist would score with 3.1 seconds remaining in the second period to make it a one-goal game heading into the final 20.
The teams would exchange goals in the third before Matt Salhany would tie up the game for the Thunder with less than five minutes left which would force OT. However, the Thunder would end up losing in the fourth round of the shootout on a goal from Alex Guptill. Charlie Curti and Colby Sissons both finished the night with three goals and one assist.
However, this was a winnable game for Adirondack, but their lack of play in the defensive end would end up biting them in the end.
Goals:
First Period:
ALN: 7:21 Gagne (14) unassisted
ALN: 10:40 Fraser (1) from Falkovsky and Boka
Second Period:
ADK: 1:46 Sissons (2) from Szmatula and Salhany
ADK: 6:21 Curti (5) from Sissons and Salhany (PP)
ALN: 8:39 Durocher (3) from Ottenbreit
ALN: 10:28 Fraser (2) from Sheehy and Pollack
ADK: 12:40 Henry (5) from Curti and Sissons (PP)
ALN: 16:23 Sheehy (10) from Topping and Ottenbreit
ADK: 19:57 Verpaelst (2) from Tschantz and Payne
Third Period:
ADK: 5:54 Szmatula (7) from Curti and Sissons (PP)
ALN: 7:57 Guptill (11) from Pollock and Sheehy
ADK: 15:26 Salhany (7) from Henry and Curti
Positives From The Weekend
One thing to take away from Sunday night’s game is that the Thunder went 3/4 on the PP. Adirondack will have a short two-game series with the Newfoundland Growlers before returning home for a crucial series with the Maine Mariners. Despite the loss, Eamon McAdam had a solid game, making 40 saves and ultimately keeping the Thunder in the game despite way too many turnovers. These turnovers would lead to odd-man rushes which would result in goals for the Americans.
With D-pairing and forwards lines always changing, it’s hard to find a combination that stands out. One combination that could start to be dangerous is the Linhart-Thompson duo. Linhart and Thompson were paired up for both games this weekend after Meirs Moore was a healthy scratch in both games against the Americans. “Really easy, we work pretty well today and work on defense first,” said Linhart when talking about his new D-Partner.