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Calgary Flames

Adirondack Thunder Clinch Spot in Kelly Cup Playoffs!

The Calgary Flames affiliate clinched a berth in the Kelly Cup playoffs Friday night with a win over the division leading Manchester Monarchs.

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The Adirondack Thunder are heading to the Kelly Cup Playoffs thanks to a 4-3 victory over the Manchester Monarchs on Friday night as reported from the Thunder website.

According to the ECHL box score, despite being badly outshot 37-21, the Thunder got back into the game around the halfway mark of the 1st period when James Henry tied the game at 1-1. After that, the flood gates opened with Michael Kirkpatrick sniping a wrist shot from the left circle for his team leading 29th goal of the season. Then Greg Wolfe scored a shortie with a minute left in the 1st after stealing the puck from Monarch netminder Colin Stevens in the corner and backhanding it into the net.

The flurry continued with just under a minute left in the 2nd period when Dana Fraser deflected a shot from Kirkpatrick on the power play. The assist was Kirkpatrick's team-leading 29th of the season and marked his 16th multi-point game this season.

The Monarchs made a game of it in the 3rd period getting goals at the 8:22 mark on the power-play and then with 26 seconds left in the game, but it was too late and the Monarchs came up short.

Thunder Forward Michael Kirkpatrick was the games 1st star. Michael leads the team with 29 goals and 29 assists for 58 points and currently sits in 17th place in league scoring.

Goalie Ken Appleby was the game's 2nd star stopping 34 of 37 shots for his 17th win of the season. Appleby has a save percentage of 0.924% which is 6th best in the league and his goals against average of 2.24 is 9th best.

The two teams will go head to head again on Saturday as the Thunder host the Monarchs at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glen Falls, New York.

The Adirondack Thunder currently sit in 2nd place in the East Division, just 3 points back of the Manchester Monarchs who have already clinched the division title, but the Reading Royals are nipping at the Thunder's heels as the two teams are tied with 82 points so the Thunder are still battling for position in the playoffs as per ECHL standings.

by BizzleJ