ECHL: Blueline Shines As Adirondack Thunder Take Game One

GLENS FALLS, NY- The Adirondack Thunder had none of their blueliners from opening night in the lineup for game one. However, the team still managed to pick up a win on a blueline that saw 17 different blueliners during the regular season. It would be defencemen Ryan Orgel who’d get the first goal of the Kelly Cup Playoffs as he scored a PP goal from the circle that beat Luke Cavallin at the 3:44 mark, and 46 seconds later, Ryan Smith fed Matt Jennings, who was in alone, and beat Cavallin as the Thunder jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. Newfoundland is a team that is never out of a game, and they proved it as Michael Joyaux picked up a goal right off a Growlers faceoff win. Then Orrin Centazzo would tie the game on the PP with less than 20 seconds left in the opening period as the score was knotted up a two after the first 20.

Adirondack would put on a clinic in the second period outshooting the Growlers 14-1, “Ya, we really shut them down,” said Ryan Orgel and scoring three unanswered goals in the course of 3:08 as Grant Jozefek and Shane Harper picked up their first goals of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, and Ryan Orgel would pick up his second of the game. Despite scoring on the PP in the opening frame, the Thunder PP was very lackluster. Newfoundland took advantage as Isaac Johnson would feed Tommy Miller, who’d score a short-handed goal at the 5:46 mark of the third, but that’s as close as the Growlers would come as Adirondack would take Game 1 by a score of 5-2. Mike Robinson made 28 saves as he won his first career Kelly Cup Playoff game. “Ya, Massive, it’s definitely different playing a three-in-four, but it makes sense with the travel, but obviously they have home ice, but we got a little advantage of being able to play at home first so it was just nice to capitalize on the first one” said Captain Shane Harper about the Game One win