The Adirondack Thunder and Reading Royals met on Friday Night for the first of two games this weekend from Cool Insuring Arena. Once again, the Thunder would fall behind early as Jake Smith forced a turnover behind the net and fed Matt Brown in front for his second of the season to open up the scoring at the 12:25 mark of the opening period. Less than three minutes later, it would be that same duo as they would get a two-on-one as Jake Smith decided to take the shot himself this time and give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Adirondack got a boost to the lineup on Friday as Brendan Less returned after missing the last five games and would get the Thunder on the board with a PP goal and his first of the season with less than two minutes to go in the period. Ryan Smith would finish the game with five shots on goal and became the franchise leader for shots on goal with 660, passing Head Coach Pete MacArthur, who had 656 during his time as a Thunder.
“Ya, obviously we wanna get the win. I thought we played a much better game than we have in the last couple weeks so hopefully we can build on that and get a W tomorrow night”
Brendan Less on picking up a goal in his first game back after missing the last five
In the second, it would be a much better period for the Thunder as they would have a golden opportunity to tie the game as Mason Primeau would take a double minor for high-sticking at the 6:01 mark but couldn’t find the back of the net but would outshoot the Royals 11-6 in the middle frame. Heading into the third period, it would be all Thunder as they would outshoot the Reading 14-3 and had plenty of chances to tie the game up but couldn’t find a way to put a second one past Keith Petruzzeli to even it up, as Petruzzeli would finish the night with 31 saves. Ryan Leibold would add an empty-netter for the Royals as they would take home a 3-1 victory, snap a three-game losing streak, and have now won two straight against the Thunder.
“We’re going through growing pains but I say the same thing to them I’m not a win-lose guy, I’m a complete and how was our attitude and effort and the controllable stuff, you can’t control if the puck goes in the net”
Head Coach Pete MacArthur on Friday Night’s game
There’s no question that this was a much better performance from the Thunder tonight, especially with them continuing to play well on the PK and finally finding the back of the net on the PP. The Thunder will look to bounce back tomorrow night vs Reading, as Tyler Brennan will get the nod between the pipes.
