Thunder Thursday: Thunder Win Third Straight

The Adirondack Thunder won their third straight game last night to end a week in which they went 3-1.

Last Friday the Thunder took on the Reading Royals after beating them last Tuesday in a shootout. The result this time around was a little different...okay, it was very different. The Royals got three unanswered goals in the 1st period to take a 3-0 lead into the 3rd period after a scoreless 2nd period. Adirondack finally got on the board at 4:22 of the 3rd period with Gunnar Hughes potting his 7th goal of the season with assists from Alex Wall and Patch Alber. But that’s as close as they would get as the Royals scored two more goals to take the 5-1 victory. J.P. Anderson allowed 4 goals on 28 shots in the loss.

The beat-down from the Royals must have sparked some fire in the Thunder because on Saturday night, they were fired up as they took on the Elmira Jackals. The Thunder got two goals in the 1st period from Ty Loney and Stepan Falkovsky with assists from Peter MacArthur, Patch Alber, Mikkel Aagaard and Greg Wolfe. Elmira cut the Thunder lead to 2-1 in the 1st period. Brian Ward scored at 3:12 of the 2nd frame, assisted by Alex Wall and Patch Alber to make it 3-1. The Jackals scored at 8:45 and just a minute and a half later Greg Wolfe scored to once again restore the two goal lead 4-2. Assists went to Brett Pollock and Stepan Falkovsky. The Thunder scored four more goals in the 3rd period to make the final 8-2. J.P. Anderson stopped 20 of 22 shots for the win.

The rematch a night later in Elmira was a much tighter game. The Jackals hit the board first at 6:55 in the 1st period followed by the Thunder’s Mikkel Aagaard tieing the game up five minutes later. Assists went to Greg Wolfe and James Henry. The 2nd period went pretty much the same way with the Jackals scoring at 5:38 and the Thunder’s Stepan Falkovsky tieing it up about ten minutes later on the power-play, assisted from Mikkel Aagaard and Alex Wall. Falkovsky scored the game-winner at 15:35 of the 3rd on the power-play, assisted from Mikkel Aagaard. Drew Fielding stopped 28 of 30 shots for the win.

Last night, the Thunder took on the Norfolk Admirals in Norfolk. The Admirals got on the scoresheet first 6:13 into the game, but Stepan Falkovsky tied the game up at 15:51 with assists from Alex Wall and Mikkel Aagaard. The Admirals scored just 1:35 into the 2nd period, but Greg Wolfe tied the game up again 2-2 about ten minutes later. Assists went to Mikkel Aagaard and Stepan Falkovsky. James Henry put the Thunder up a goal just 1:47 into the 3rd with assists to Kevin Lough and Brandon Baddock. The Thunder scored again about a minute and a half later with James Henry scoring the eventual game-winner, assisted by Ty Loney and Stepan Falkovsky. Norfolk added one more goal, but fell short losing 4-3. J.P. Anderson stopped 23 of 26 shots for his 10th win of the season.

Ty Loney continues to lead the team in scoring with 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points in 34 games (51st in ECHL scoring) followed by Mikkel Aagaard with 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points in 33 games.

Goalie J.P. Anderson is leading the team in wins with 10 (25th in the ECHL) followed by Mason McDonald with 9 wins. Ken Appleby leads the team with a goals against average of 1.98 (7th in the ECHL) followed by Drew Fielding with a 2.65 GAA and J.P. Anderson with a 2.72 GAA. Ken Appleby leads the team with a 0.915 save percentage (17th in the ECHL) followed by Drew Fielding with a 0.910 save percentage.

The Thunder now sit 3rd in the North Division (5th in the Eastern Conference), with a record of 22 wins, 13 losses, 4 overtime losses and 3 shootout losses.

The Thunder’s next action comes Friday, February 3rd when they play the first of back-to-back games against the Norfolk Admirals (Edmonton Oilers affiliate). Game time is 7:00pm EST (5:00pm MST) from the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York.

Check back each and every Thursday for Thunder Thursday where we will update you on all news and scores from the Adirondack Thunder.

Check the Adirondack Thunder website for more news and information about the Calgary Flames ECHL affiliate.