It may have taken four games and 11 days to do it, but the Thunder finally have their first win of 2020. Adirondack would beat Maine after dropping two in Newfoundland to start the new year then losing yesterday to the Worcester Railers before taking down the Maine Mariners in Saturday’s game.
Thunder Fall Off The Rails Late in Loss To Worcester
The Adirondack Thunder got off to a promising start after having six days off. However, it would Worcester’s Ross Olson who would take a wrister from about 40 feet out that would find the back of the net at the 4:44 mark of the first period on a shot that Eamon McAdam would love to have back. Adirondack would finally get on the board late in the period as Nikita Popugaev would be all alone on the side of the net to find a rebound and put it home and tie the game for the Thunder.
Eamon McAdam, on Friday night, would only face a total 23 shots, but his biggest save of the night would come a little over three minutes into the second period. This would see him stop Nic Pierog on the breakaway while Adirondack was on the power play. Ironically, it would be the Thunder who would be able to covert a shorthanded breakaway opportunity as James Phelan would score in his first game back after being released from his professional tryout with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
Adirondack dominated the Railers in the first two periods of the game but could never seem to pull away as Ross Olson would pick up his second goal of the night as the Railers were able to convert on a two-on-one odd-man rush late in the second which would give them life heading into the third period.
Kyle Thomas would give Worcester the lead at the 6:06 mark of the game’s third period which would give the visiting Railers a 3-2 lead over Adirondack. The Thunder would get a five-on-three with a little under two minutes left in the frame, that not being for long however as it would turn into a six-on-four. They had plenty of chances, but couldn’t get anything past Evan Buitenhuis who would make a season-high 46 saves on the night. Those 48 shots by the Thunder are also a season-high for them, but they couldn’t seize the opportunity to put another W in the win column.
Goals:
First Period:
WOR: 4:44 Olsson (7) from Callin and Salituro
ADK: 14:18 Popugaev (5) from Curti and Pierro-Zabotel
Second Period:
ADK: 5:58 Phelan (2) unassisted (SH)
WOR: 18:44 Olsson (8) from Turcotte and Callin
Third Period:
WOR: 6:02 Thomas (8) from Almeida and Pierog
Thunder Keep Elmerless Mariners Glued In Fifth place
It may have taken four games and 11 days, but the Thunder finally have their first win of 2020. It may be that the Mariners felt bad for us that they decided to scratch Jake Elmer who has nine goals and three assists for 12 points in eight games against Adirondack this season. But with that said, Adirondack is back in the win column.
Maine would get off to a quick start as a shot from the point from Ryan Culkin would bounce around like a pinball on the way to the net as William Pelletier would end up getting credit for the goal to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. It would take Adirondack less than three minutes to respond as Ara Nazarian would get a turnover from Brandon Crowley and score on the breakaway to make it a 1-1 game. Adirondack would only hold the lead for 0:16 seconds over the Elmerless Mariners as Dylan Fox would hand to Maine the two-on-one advantage over the Thunder.
The high-scoring first period wouldn’t end there for Adirondack as Casey Pierro-Zabotel would get his stick on a shot from the point from Colby Sissons to deflect it home to make a 2-2 game. This would remain the score after one period of play at Cool Insuring Arena. After a scoreless second period, The Thunder would get the first 10 shots on goal, including one that would find the back of the net as Robbie Payne would find the rebound from a shot from Jake Linhart to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead. That would be the case at the 5:23 mark of the game’s third period.
Payne has now picked up at least one point in 10 of 11 games against Maine this season. Adirondack would play sloppy late which gave the Mariners a six-on-three advantage for the final 38.3 seconds of the game at Cross Insurance Arena over the visiting Thunder. Adirondack’s first clearing attempt from Kelly Summers would find the back of the net to solidify the win for Adirondack.
Eamon McAdam, who would be forced to make back-to-back starts with Evan Cormier being called up to the New Jersey Devils, would pick up the victory on Saturday night, making 25 of 27 saves on the night. Adirondack will head back to Glens Falls to play their first game of the new year at home, this taking place on Wednesday night against these same Maine Mariners at Cool Insuring Arena.
Goals:
First Period:
MNE: 4:15 Pelletier (1) from Culkin and Adams-Moisan
ADK: 7:23 Nazarian (6) from Szmatula
MNE: 7:39 Fox (15) from Ronning
ADK: 16:09 Pierro-Zabotel (18) from Sissons and Popugaev
Second Period: No Scoring
Third Period:
ADK: 5:23 Payne (11) from Henry and Linhart
ADK: 19:30 Summers (5) from Pierro-Zabotel