The Adirondack Thunder and Norfolk Admirals faced off on Saturday Night as both teams were looking to extend their point streaks. In the first ten minutes of the game, it was all Norfolk as they had all the momentum but once again it would be the goaltending that kept the Thunder in the game as Tyler Brennan stood tall as Adirondack was able to get on the board first as Kevin O’Neil fed Ryan Conroy who found the back of the net for his second goal of the season and Adirondack’s league-leading fourth short-handed goal of the season, on the other side it was the sixth short-handed goal allowed by the Admirals this season. Just over two minutes later, Shaw Boomhower and Spencer Kennedy dropped their gloves, as each of them received majors for fighting and a game misconduct. This would be a huge blow for the Admirals as they played most of the game down two guys as Ryan Chyzowski was dealing with a lower-body injury and Justin Young played through an upper-body injury as both guys are a game-time decision for tomorrow’s game vs Worcester Railers. Norfolk had a golden opportunity to get on the board late as Stepan Timofeyev got a breakaway in the final minute of the period, but Tyler Brennan stopped that attempt, along with the other 11 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes of play.
“We lost a couple, you lose Kennedy, Young had to play with one arm but you guys wouldn’t know that cause he was in and then Chyzowski’s with an ankle and we had play three guys shorter for the bulk of the game, but it was one of those games we knew it was gonna be tough sledding no matter what way you looked at it. It seemed we were getting kicked out of every draw, we weren’t gonna get a PP late in the game and we just had to do it the old fashioned way, kinda gut through all the uphill battles that were thrown are way”
-Norfolk Admirals Head Coach Jeff Carr on losing Kennedy early in the game
It would be a much better second period for Adirondack, but they wouldn’t have anything to show for it as Pavel Padakin would feed Brandon Osmundson on a delayed penalty to tie the game up at one and extend his point streak to four games. Norfolk would get a chance to take the lead about six and a half minutes into the period as Carson Golder got a breakaway opportunity, but once again, Brennan stood tall, making the save to keep the game tied. The Admirals would finally get the lead at the 10:32 mark as Sean Montgomery would come down the wing, get around Brendan Less, and beat Brennan for his third goal of the season as Norfolk headed to the third period with a 2-1 lead.
“Just trying to get to the dirty areas. I play with some really good people on my line, Ryan Chyzowski and Brady Fleurent and these guys know how to play the game and I’m just trying to get to the dirty areas and they seem to find me right now so I’m not complaining, I’ll take the points anyway I can get them, I’m just overall with this team that we can win these games”
Brandon Osmundson on his four-game point streak
In the third, the Thunder would be able to tie it as Patrick Polino fed Ryan Conroy, who found the back of the net for his third goal of the season, and the second of the game would tie the game back up at two. It looked as if, for the second straight night, we would need OT to award the extra point, but Carson Golder would find the puck off a blocked shot and quickly fired home on a shot that Brennan wasn’t able to see, and that’s all the Admirals would need as they would hand the Thunder their first regulation loss of the 2024-25 season as Tyler Brennan made 25 saves in the loss. Dante Giannuzzi would make 30 saves for his third win of the season.
“Ya, it’s good, just trying to help the team as much as I can so it’s nice that it’s clicking offensively right now”
-Conroy on his success early in the season.
Adirondack will begin a three-in-three with the Reading Royals to start a stretch of seven games in 10 days. The Admirals will be back in action tomorrow afternoon vs. the Worcester Railers.
