ECHL: Sloppy Play Shines; Thunder Point Streak Snapped at 12

The Adirondack Thunder for a slight second saw a glimpse of the Kelly Cup Playoffs as they sat in the Forth and Final playoff spot for one night and one night only. Adirondack had a chance to put themselves in the driver’s seat as long as they were able to pick up some points away from Glens Falls, but they did not do that. Instead, it was the beginning of the year Adirondack Thunder that showed up to play. Turnovers, lack of effort, missed passes, and not-so-timely goaltending all of it was on display during Adirondack’s two losses over the weekend. During the course of the two games on the road, the Thunder were playing from behind for 113:03. Despite the two ugly losses, Adirondack still has a chance to take care of business as they are only one point back of the Railers with a game in hand. Friday’s game in Trois Rivieres will dictate what the vibes will be like for Saturday and Sunday’s games against the Railers.

Adirondack Continue Slick Play

Glens Falls, NY- The Adirondack Thunder had only won one of the eight games they had played against the Maine Mariners. Maine would get on the board first as a shot from the point would hit Mitchell Fossier’s stick and trickle past Isaac Poulter to give the Mariners the lead. The Thunder needed a bounce to get themselves back into the game and that’s exactly what they got as Sebastian Vidmar took a shot from the circle that hit a Maine body in front and somehow ended up in the back of the net, extending Vidmar’s point streak to seven games. Adirondack came out flying in the second and would get rewarded as Grant Jozefek made a beautiful play to set up Sebastian Vidmar in front, “That’s all on him, I had an empty net, he likes that play a lot, as soon as he got behind the net I just found a spot where he could pass it, it’s all him, I like doing that play as well, It’s nice when someone else does it” laughed Vidmar. The Thunder weren’t done yet as Matt Slick would score his first professional goal just 3:31 after the Vidmar goal, and Adirondack had two goals in the period before the Mariners were able to get their first shot on goal of the period. Isaac Poulter who’s been bouncing back and forth between Utica and Adirondack, would make 27 saves in the win, including two break-away saves on Mitchell Fossier who got the game’s opening goal. Patrick Grasso would win a foot race and Francois Brassard who came a little too far out of his net, and the puck would get past him but not into the goal, as Grasso finished it off as the Thunder won 4-1.

Point-Streak Snapped as Thunder Hop On The Wrong Track

WORCESTER, MASS- The Adirondack Thunder had their 12 game-point-streak snapped on Saturday Night as they dropped a critical game to the Worcester Railers. Coming into the game, The Thunder held on to the final spot in the North, leading Worcester by one point, with two games in hand and a chance to put a stranglehold on the Railers. Worcester has been known for scoring early, and they would tonight as a Thunder turnover led to a Steve Jandric break-away as he would beat Mike Robinson to open up the scoring just 1:09 into the opening frame. Adirondack looked completely flat in the first period as they weren’t connecting on passes and it seemed like the energy just wasn’t there. However, it seemed as if they’d head back to the locker room only down one, but Jacob Hayhurst would crash the net, and the puck would end up behind Robinson with 1:36 left in the opening frame. Despite being down only two, it felt like it would be a mountain to climb for the Thunder. Adirondack would look a little better in the second, but it would be a shot from Myles McGurty that would give the Railers a three-goal lead heading into the third. Things went from bad to worse as Jaycob Hayhurst scored just 38 seconds in the final frame on a break-away however, Adirondack would get a two-man advantage, and it would be Matt Stief who’d finally beat Henri Tikkanen to get the Thunder on the board at the 3:31 mark, Ryan Smith would score 3:29 seconds after Stief’s goal as the Railer’s lead was quickly cut in half. “They were big; it’s exciting to see if you can get the third one, get it within one; we told them we’ve had all kinds of different kinds of scenarios we’ve had to deal with this year, and it’s no different, go out there compete and see what happens,” said Head Coach Pete MacArthur Anthony Repaci and Nick Fea added goals for the Railers as they would beat the Thunder 6-2. Mike Robinson made 24 saves in the loss for his first regulation loss in five appearances with the Thunder.

Mariners Have Thunder Looking for Life Boat

PORTLAND, MAINE- There was a record broken on Sunday afternoon as the Maine Mariners scored their fastest goal in team history as Mitchell Fossier took a shot that Mike Robinson would be unable to stop. Sunday’s opening frame seemed better than Saturday’s as the team seemed to be awake in the opening frame, and with 2:10 left in the period, the second-best road PP would get the Thunder on the board as Grant Jozefek did what he did best and threw a pass from behind the net to Travis Broughman in front as the Thunder tied the game up at one. Mike Robinson would have a few nice saves to try and keep Adirondack in the game but it would be Nick Master who would find a rebound in front on the PP to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead, and then, as they say, when it rains it pours Austin Albrecht would be credited with a goal on a puck, that after review, crossed the goal line. Albrecht would slam Matt Stief into the boards, which would have Thunder player’s coming in to defend Steif, and once it was settled, the Thunder ended up with a powerplay as Brady Fleurent gave the Thunder A slimmer of hope would appear as Matt Jennings found Fleurent, who’d find the back of the net to make it a one-goal game and right after the puck went in, the gloves came off as Matt Slick and Cameron Askew dropped the gloves, as for the first time in a long time, A Thunder player was willing to drop the gloves.

Mitchell Fossier would get his second goal of the game, and the Mariner’s second PP goal of the game on the PP just 1:09 after the opening faceoff of the third period, which would cap off his three-point game. Grant Jozefek turned over a puck to Tyler Hinam, and he’d find the back of the net for his eighth of the year to make it a three-goal game. Adirondack would pull Mike Robinson for the extra attacker with 3:04 to go in the third. Adirondack would take advantage of the extra man as Shane Harper picked up his 23rd of the season with less than two seconds to go in the game, to somewhat soften the Thunder’s blow as they would go on to lose 5-3. One thing that really stood out to me during Sunday’s game was the penalty kill. It seemed as if the Thunder were trying to do too much. If they had a chance to clear the puck, they’d look to try and find a way to get an odd-man rush or skate through defencemen instead of trying just dumping it down the ice.