GLENS FALLS, NY — I think the best way to describe this series came from the words of Glens Falls native and the newest Thunder member, Shawn Weller. “I don’t know if you can take moral victories when you have 30 games to go and that’s just the honest truth,” he said. However, when you look at the bigger picture, and keep in mind that Coach Loh hasn’t coached his full team this year with the call-ups to Utica, it’s a point worth noting, but is no excuse for the club’s lacklustre season thus far.
Lions Pounce on Thunder
The Adirondack Thunder have officially tied their season-high losing streak at five games, as they fell to the Trois-Rivieres Lions by a final score of 6-4. Adirondack didn’t exactly get off to a great start, as Nicolas Lariviere swung around the net and beat Brandon Kasel with five minutes left in the opening period. The Lions soon after doubled their lead, as Felix-Oliver Chouinard, helped by a screening of the backstop, put the puck in the net to quickly go up 2-0. Adirondack got on the board in the dying minutes, as Shawn Weller fed Sebastian Vidmar for his tenth of the season.
The second period has not been kind to the Thunder, and once again, Tuesday was no exception, as forward William Leblanc slid the puck through two defenders, finding an open lane and burying the puck home behind Kasel. Adirondack followed the opposition’s lead, as defender Jake Ryczek fed Shane Harper for a one-timer, which for a second time brought the Thunder within a goal. “Yeah, every year I’ve played here under Alex, we’ve had a top-five power play, and it’s fun to play on it,” said MacArthur. “Especially when you have a guy like Harper. He’s like a cheat code.”
One of the biggest issues lately for the Thunder is that they love to give up goals right after they score one. Right on cue, it was a bad bounce just 56 seconds later, which allowed Trois-Rivieres to reclaim their two-goal lead. Julien Nantel took a puck off the stick of Chris Lijdsman, and put it behind Kasel to make it a 5-2 game.
Adirondack clawed their way right back into it, as Nick Rivera and MacArthur each tacked on a goal, which yet again brought them within one of the Lions. Back and forth as it may be, defender Mathieu Brodeur wired one home from the point, netting the team’s sixth goal to seal the deal at Colisée Vidéotron. Speaking with the media postgame, Thunder bench boss Alex Loh spoke on the need for stability, finding his team to be “a little inconsistent.”
“It’s hockey,” Loh continued. “You gotta win your battles, I know it’s cliche, but it is what it is.”
Thunder Make Strides Despite Second Straight Loss
Yes, The losing streak has been painful, however, Friday’s game against Trois-Rivieres felt like a step in the right direction for the Thunder. One thing Adirondack has been doing right is getting off on the right foot, and they did so once again, as Patrick Grasso broke open the scoring, receiving a rebound out front and trickling it past Keith Petruzzelli for the early lead. Despite the strong start to the opening frame, Ryan Chyzowski found the back of the net on what can only be described in easy terms as a high tip-in. The second period remained unfriendly to the Thunder, as Orrin Centazzo wasted no time right out of the penalty box, scoring his 18th on a breakaway to put the Lions on top 2-1.
Fighting tooth and nail to stay in the game, Adirondack scored just 45 seconds later on what Shawn Weller described as a wishy-washy goal. Running on a surge of momentum, Sebastian Vidmar scored just 2:06 later, though it had to be reviewed, ultimately ruled a good goal. Brandon Kasel had a bounce back game and made a pair of big saves to keep the Thunder in the game. “It definitely helps when you get the start in a game where you didn’t play well, and I’m my own toughest critic,” the backstop said. “Last night, I was really trying to go through the goals to see how I can better myself.” Unable to fend off the visitors, Kasel stopped 25 shots of the 28 that he faced in the losing effort.