Coming into the weekend series vs the Railers, Adirondack had lost in Worcester on opening night and lost in OT to Maine in the Thunder’s lone home game so far this season, but you could tell that things were starting to click in their OT loss to Maine, and Adirondack needed to build on that during their trip to Worcester, and that’s exactly what they did against a Railers team that they will see three more times this month. Filip Engaras had a big weekend for the Thunder as he finished the weekend with two goals and an assist, Erik Middendorf added three points, and newly acquired Tristan Ashbrook played very well in both games despite not finding the back of the net, oh and the Thunder goaltending was on full display this weekend as they are starting to show the three-headed monster that they have between the pipes.
Filip Engras and Vinnie Purpura Power Thunder To First Win
The Adirondack Thunder went back to Worcester, where they suffered a 5-2 loss to the Railers on opening night, where Tyler Brennan got the start; on Friday, it would be Vinnie Purpura who would get his second consecutive start for the Thunder after stopping 28 of 32 shots in the Thunder home opener last Saturday. Adirondack had given up the first goal in their first two games of the season, but Adirondack would take two penalties early in the first and would kill off both of them before Filip Engaras would open the scoring as he found a rebound and put it past Henri Tikkanen at the 13:18 mark of the opening frame. One of the big factors that hurt Adirondack in the opening two games was their PP, but tonight, they would find the back of the net on the man advantage as Engaras found the back of the net for his second of the game to put the Thunder up by two at the 16:33 mark of the second. It was a strong defensive game for Adirondack that helped them as they held the Railers to only two shots on goal in the first 12 minutes of play, but Jake Pivonka found the back of the net for the Railers late in the second to make it a one-goal game heading into the third. Worcester would dominate the third period outshooting Adirondack 13-5, and had two great chances in the final minutes of the game, but Vinnie Purpura was on his game, making both of those huge saves as he finished the night with 30 saves to give the Thunder their first victory of the season as they won by a final of 2-1, Adirondack finished last year 1-26 when scoring two goals or less and that one win didn’t come until March 25th against the Railers.
Special Teams Shine as Thunder Come Back To Beat Railers
The Adirondack Thunder have seemed to have turned the script as in their last two games as they have seemed to get off to quick starts, and they would do so once again on Saturday Night as they came out firing as they thew 11 shots at Tristian Lennox in the opening frame as the Railers would throw only six at Jeremy Brodeur in the opening twenty. Both sides had opportunities, as each team would have two chances to convert on the PP but couldn’t find the back of the net. Adirondack would open the scoring at the 9:32 mark of the second as Tristian Thompson fired a shot from the point that got past Lennox on the power-play. The Thunder would hope to carry that lead into the third, but it would be Anthony Callin finding Andrei Bakanov with 2:01 left in the frame to tie the game up at one on a PP with just 2:01 left in the second.
It would be a goaltender duo through 40, as both netminders were making big saves on each end, but it would be Bakanov again who would find the back of the net just 1:55 after the opening faceoff of the third, and the Thunder would get a PP, but it would be a puck that would be batted out of mid-air that would send Ashton Calder on a break-away and he’d beat Brouder to make it a 3-1 game. Erik Middendorf, who re-signed with the Thunder this off-season after putting up just one goal in 11 games last year, picked up two power-play goals in the course of 1:48 as the Thunder would tie the game up at three. It looked like Adirondack would leave with at least one point, but it would be a weird bounce off the board and end up on the stick of Brendan Robbins, who gave Worcester the lead with 5:34 remaining in the third and would be the first goal of the game not scored on special teams, however, Ryan Smith wanted in on the five on five fun as he scored at the 17:26 make of the third to tie it. Adirondack would get a PP in OT, and it would be a shot from the point from Matt Steif that would send the Thunder back to Adirondack with four points on the weekend.
Jeremy Brodeur would get his first start of the season as he made his 100th career ECHL appearance and would pick up his 33rd career win as he made 25 saves in Saturday’s OT win. Despite making only 25 saves on the night, a lot of those saves would come off of high-opportunity chances from the Railers, as he was able to keep the Thunder in the game.
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