The Adirondack Thunder and Reading Royals opened up the first of 11 meetings between the two teams during the 2024-25 season and the first of the three-in-three this weekend. It was all Adirondack in the opening frame as they would get the first eight shots on goal until Reading would capitalize on their first shot of the game as Shane Sellar, who was playing in his 150th professional game, would get his first goal of the season at the 13:13 mark of the opening period. Adirondack certainly had their chances as they had two power-plays in the first period but couldn’t convert; the last time the Thunder scored a PP goal was on October 19th against the Norfolk Admirals.
“Everything, even the powerplay, we didn’t score, but we got great looks on all three powerplays. I thought we exited the zone, we defended hard, we used the walls, we had great talk on the ice and on the bench, it was our best 50 out of 60 minutes we played. We got a little sleepy at time but it was a really good effort”
Head Coach Pete MacArthur on what they improved on from last weekend
In the second, the Thunder would get on the board quickly as Ryan Conroy fed Ryan Wheeler to open up the scoring just 2:49 into the second period. Filip Engaras, who took a scary hit on October 25th vs Laval, made his return to the ice tonight after being sent to Adirondack would find the back of the net to give Adirondack a 2-1 lead. The game would get a little chippy at the end of the second as Ryan Wheeler took a big hit into the boards from Matt Miller, which caused a scene as Brendan Less would be the only one heading off to the penalty box; things didn’t end there as Jacques Bouquot would throw a big hit on Patrick Polino, and Darian Skeoch would quickly come in and drop the gloves with Bouquot, as Bouquot would get an extra two for elbowing.
“Ya, obviously it was a tough couple weeks, but it’s great to be back” Engas added, “It’s also fun to score, especially in this building”
Filip Engaras on scoring his first goal in his first game back after his injury on October 25th
The Thunder, who had an abbreviated PP to start the third period, got a ton of good looks but couldn’t beat Parker Gahagen as the Royals kept it a one-goal game. There would be a couple of sloppy turnovers in the third period for the Thunder, but Jeremy Brodeur would stand tall as he would have to make just 18 saves for his fourth win of the year, and Patrick Polino would add an empty-netter as the Thunder cruised to a 3-1 victory.
