Well, to put it lightly, it was an exciting weekend at home in Glens Falls as the Adirondack Thunder, on Friday and Saturday, continued to cut the gap on that fourth and final playoff spot. This weekend, not only were the Thunder hot, but the crowd brought the energy, including a sold-out crowd on Saturday night for Law Enforcement Night. Let’s recap the homestand and how Adirondack made out this weekend.
Friday Night Heart Attack
The Adirondack Thunder won a heart-pounding game on Friday night as they defeated the Reading Royals in a shootout 5-4. Now let’s recap what happened on this crazy night in Glens Falls. Adirondack got off to a slow start as the Royals got on the board just 0:52 after puck drop courtesy of Frank DiChiara.
The Royals were the better team in the first period and it showed as at the 11:11 mark, it would Matthew Strome beat Blake Thompson then Eamon McAdam to make it 2-0 Royals. It would be a Thunder power play that would give them life as Matt Salhany would poke it home in front to make it a 2-1 game after twenty.
Adirondack and Reading would have a very exciting second period as Matthew Willman would fire a wrister that would find its way behind McAdam to make it 3-1 Reading. Just 1:57 later, Steven Swavely would make it 4-1 on a shot where he came in on the left side and put one over the shoulder of Eamon McAdam which is where Friday’s fun began. It took Adirondack only 0:17 to respond as Salhany got his second of the night on a nice back-handed effort. Ludvig Larsson would respond just 0:11 seconds after the Salhany goal to make it 4-3 Reading after two with the Royals seeming to always be one step ahead.
The team from Pennsylvania wouldn’t give up as a turnover by the Thunder would leave Rob Michel wide open and end-all Thunder hopes or so we thought… *Enter Scoring God Matt Salhany.* It would be a Matt Salhany hat-trick goal that would tie the game up at 4 as a blocked shot would end up on the stick of the right-winger which would send hats flying down to the ice.
Adirondack still trailed by one with less than five minutes left in the second before Matt Salhany would fire a back-hander to tie the game up and almost take the roof off of Cool Insuring Arena after he scored his fourth goal of the game. “A long time ago, a very long time ago, over ten years ago, that’s for sure,” said Salhany when asked if he’s ever scored four goals before. It also set the fire-alarm off at Cool Insuring Arena.
An overtime filled with post after post shots would keep the Thunder alive as Eamon McAdam would make eight saves in the overtime period. “I told the guys in the room I don’t think I’ve ever had that much luck in a game before,” said McAdam after the game. McAdam would finish the night with 40 saves, including two more in the shootout to pick up his 15th win of the season. “It was a team victory. I wasn’t on my game at all times tonight,” said McAdam when talking about Friday’s victory.
Friday’s game would be decided in a shootout as Salhany (Obviously he would score), but it would be Nikita Popugaev who got the shootout winner for Adirondack. “I was good in shootouts in Juniors,” said Popugaev when asked if he knew he was going to be the second shooter in the shootout. Friday’s win cuts the Thunder deficit to only six points in the standings as Brampton lost 4-2 to the Worcester Railers.
Goals:
First Period
REA: 0:56 DiChiara (19) from Willman and Ebbing
REA: 11:11 Strome (8) from Mackin and Gaudreau
ADK: 12:10 Salhany (22) from Larsson and Curti (PP)
Second Period:
REA: 6:10 Willman (7) from Mackin
REA: 7:57 Swavely (11) from Gaudreau and DiChiara
ADK: 8:16 Salhany (23) from Szmatuala and Edwardh
ADK: 8:27 Larsson (5) from Pierro-Zabotel
Third Period:
REA: 4:07 Michel (6) from DiChiara and Willman
ADK: 6:23 Salhany (24) from Szmatuala
ADK: 15:12 Salhany (25) from Szmatuala and Edwardh
Saturday Night
It was a night of missed opportunities for the Thunder as they lost the back-end of a two-game series with the Reading Royals by a score of 4-2. Adirondack had a chance to put a stranglehold on the Royals early in the game as right-winger Hayden Hodgson would get a major along with a game misconduct. David Drake, on the other hand, would take a slashing minor at the same time.
It was a six and half minute stretch where Reading found themselves down a man and the only goal as Ludvig Larsson would feed Conor Riley who would put one past Tom McCollum. Reading would be able to tie the game late in the period as Reading Captain Eric Knodel would tie the game with seven seconds left in the opening frame.
The Thunder would have to respond quickly as Colby Sissons would finish a tic-tac-toe play and make it 2-1 Thunder which would be the end to the Thunder’s high. It would be Sissons’ first game since being recalled from the Binghamton Devils. “A little bit, at the end of the day, hockey’s hockey, you’d like to be a little bit closer, but we’ll go from here,” said Sissons after the game talking about joining the Thunder’s playoff run.
Reading would tie the game as a pin-balling puck would squeak by Eamon McAdam as Frank DiChiara would get credit for the goal. Mike Szmatuala would take a double minor penalty for high-sticking for the Thunder as Reading would score twice within the opening two minutes of the third period. Reading would hold on to that lead to win by a final of 4-2.
Special teams killed the Thunder as they finished the night one for seven on the power play. “We gotta find a way to get more than one goal on a five-on-three and a five minute major like that. It’s unacceptable,” said Loh. Loh went on to say that the last power play where the Thunder didn’t get a shot was also unacceptable.
Adirondack will now head to Newfoundland for their last tough three-game stretch against the Growlers. “It’s a business trip, we’ve done it the last two years,” said Loh.
Side Note: Loh wore a purple-coloured tie during Friday night’s win. “No enemy colours. It’s just one of those things, I just grabbed a tie,” said Loh when asked about it.
Goals:
First Period:
ADK: 11:55 Riley (8) from Larsson and Curti (PP)
REA: 19:53 Knodel (7) from Mackin and Swavely (PP)
Second Period:
ADK: 1:36 Sissons (6) from Szmatuala and Salhany
REA: 7:38 DiChiara (20) from Drake and Michel
Third Period:
REA: 0:33 Willman (8) from Knodel and DiChiara (PP)
REA: 1:19 Low (17) from Mackin and Crocock