The Adirondack Thunder continued their road trip on Saturday Night as they headed to Santander Arena for the first of two games against the Reading Royals this weekend. Heading into Saturday Night, Adirondack won each of the first two games they had played at Santander Arena. Once again, Adirondack would fall behind early as C.J. Valerian would feed Shane Sellar for a one-timer to give the Royals a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark of the opening period. Adirondack, who’s had issues staying out of the penalty box as of late, would commit two penalties in the first, including a double-minor, but were able to kill off both of them as they trailed by one after the opening 20 minutes of play.
Special teams would play a big part of the game on Saturday night as the Thunder would get their first full PP at the 3:54 mark of the second and took advantage as Kishaun Gervais fed Ryan Francis for his seventh of the year to tie the game up at one. The Thunder would have a parade to the penalty box in the second as they took back-to-back penalties, including giving Reading a five-on-three for a minute, but the Royals couldn’t take advantage. Adirondack would gain momentum from the penalty kills and take the lead as the Thunder would have a three-on-two. It would be a beautiful pass from Kevin O’Neil that would eventually lead to Gervais beating Keith Petruzzeli for his sixth of the season and second as a member of the Thunder, as Adirondack would carry a 2-1 lead into the third period.
In the third, it would be lucky number seven for Reading as Robbie Stucker found the back of the net on a shot from the point on the Royals seventh PP of the game. For Stucker, that was his first goal since March 19th, 2023, when he was a member of the South Carolina Stingrays. Later in the period, it would be the special teams again that gave Reading the lead as Matt Miller got a shorthanded breakaway and would beat Muise for the Royals seventh shorthanded goal of the season. Reading is now one of five teams in the league that are tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals. The Royals lead wouldn’t last long as Josh Filmon capitalized on the Thuder’s opportunity to tie the game at three 41 seconds after Miller found the back of the net to tie the game at three. In the OT frame, Gervais would feed Kevin O’Neil for his 10th of the year as Gervais capped off a three-point night. Colby Muise, who made his fourth career ECHL appearance and third start, would finally pick up his first career ECHL win. Muise becomes the second Adirondack goaltender to pick up his first career ECHL win in Reading after David Fessenden picked up his first win on December 12th on a night where he would fight Petruzzeli and pick up the win in the game and in the fight. Adirondack will finish off the East Coast portion of their road trip tomorrow afternoon in Reading before heading out to Tahoe.
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