It was a massive weekend for the Adirondack Thunder as they traveled to Worcester for a two-game set against the fourth-place Worcester Railers. Coming into the weekend, the Thunder were already down one goaltender as Jake Theut went on IR earlier in the week, and unfortunately, the situation wouldn’t get better as the weekend progressed. However, despite the challenges they faced, they were able to take three out of four points, and they now sit just a single point back of the Railers with two games in hand. Adirondack also claimed defencemen Dajon Mingo off waivers on Saturday from the Cincinnati Cyclone, “Veteran defencemen, former all-star, he can fly, he can fight, 14 points in 21 games, so we lost our veteran D man and figured let’s see what this guy can do for us,” said Pete MacArthur about the waiver claim on Dajon Mingo. The 32-year-old defencemen has 42 goals and 124 assists in 166 games and was named to the All-Star team in 2019
Adirondack Blows Three-Goal Lead, Extends Point-Streak To 10
WORCESTER, MASS- The Adirondack Thunder have been known for their slow starts against the Railers, and once again, the Railers got on the board first as Jacob Hayhurst opened up the scoring for Worcester at the 6:41 mark, and that goal would awake the Thunder. Adirondack would end up picking up three unanswered goals in the course of 3:15 as Shawn Weller scored on the PP from his kitchen in front to get the party started, Ryan Smith would score as the Thunder had a two-on-one, and Smith would take the shot and beat Appleby, then in his first game back in the Thunder line-up since March 8th Colin Long would find the back of the net.”Ya, his attitude when he wasn’t in the lineup was the best he understood. The team was rolling, and you’re ready to get back in when they’re rolling, and we’ll get you back in when we can, and Rivera got hurt, and Longer drew back in” said MacArthur. Anthony Repaci came into the night leading the Railers in goal, and he’d get the Railers back into the game with two goals in 1:15 to tie the game up at three. What happened next would change the entire course of the game as Andrei Bakanov made contact with Vinnie Purpura, and Purpura went down; he would end up being brought off on a stretcher as both benches emptied and skated towards Purpura before they headed to the locker room with 2:02 left in the opening period, after the intermission the teams would finish off the first period. Shane Harper would score on the power play to finish what would end up being a seven-goal first period between the two sides.
Neither team could score in the second, as the Thunder headed to the third, holding on to a one-goal lead. Worcester’s Jacob Hayhurst would tie the game for the Railers as a scrum in front of Purpura would lead to the puck finding the back of the net at the 10:17 mark. Hayhurst would take a delay of game penalty at the 14:12 mark of the third, giving Adirondack a chance to take their lead back, but they could not score with the man advantage. Travis Broughman took an interference penalty with 1:19 left in the third, but the Thunder would kill off the first 1:19 of the penalty to send the game into OT. Anthony Repaci would score 19 seconds into OT completing the hat-trick. However, the Thunder point streak now reaches double digits. “Ya, we’re finding a way to get points; we fought through a lot of adverse situations tonight,” said
Isaac Poulter Shines In Return to Adirondack
WORCESTER, MASS.-The Adirondack Thunder have not had the best of luck regarding the health of the goaltenders lately, as they have lost Jake Theut and Vinnie Purpura in the last week. Luckily for the Thunder, they got Isaac Poulter back for Sunday’s game, and he was fantastic for the Thunder in his return. Coming into Saturday’s game, Adirondack had the third-best road PP in the league, and it showed as Sebastian Vidmar would open the scoring on the man advantage on a shot from the circle that would beat Henri Tikkanen. Kyle Hallbauer, who was banged up and didn’t play Friday, made his presence felt in the lineup on Saturday,. He’d throw a lead pass to Matt Jennings, who got a break-away and would give Adirondack a 2-0 lead with just 1:05 remaining in the opening frame on a goal that would prove to be pivotal for the Thunder.
Worcester came alive in the second, controlling the play for most of the period, and they’d get rewarded as Nolan Vesey would score on the PP for the second straight game to put the Railers within one, and Poulter and the Thunder would keep them within one after 40. Both sides would buckle down defensively in the third as the two teams would combine for ten shots on goal, with Travis Broughman’s empty-netter being the only one to find the back of the net and Adirondack’s point streak is now at 11. Isaac Poulter made 32 saves for his first win with the Thunder since February 14th, “He’s playing like a man; he looks like he’s been in the American League for a while,” said Head Coach Pete MacArthur on Poulter. Head Coach Pete MacArthur mentioned that Poulter will be headed back up to Utica, but it is a fluid situation and that Mike Robinson is more than capable of playing goal if Poulter doesn’t come back down.
