The Adirondack Thunder came into Saturday Night looking to even up the three-game series against a Tahoe Knight Monsters team that would play two players short. In the opening frame, it would be the Colby Muise show as he stopped all eight shots he faced, with a good portion of them being high-quality chances by the Knight Monsters. Adirondack would have their chances in the first as Tahoe, a team that came into the night averaging over eight minutes of penalties per game, would have six penalty minutes after the opening frame. The Thunder would finally take advantage of a powerplay as just a minute into the second period, Ryan Wheeler would feed Kevin O’Neil in the circle for his 12th goal of the season and fifth on the PP.
“It’s a character win. There’s definitley times throughout every season that your gonna need guys certain guys to step up and your best players to be your best players and I thought tonight we had a combination of everything. I thought everybody played well and they had an impact on the game and to have that when your down two men short is excellent”
Tahoe Knight Monsters Head Coach Alex Loh on Tahoe Playing two men short
Tahoe would finally find a way to beat Muise at the 7:03 mark of the second as Sloan Stanick would feed a wide-open Simon Pinard for his 22nd of the year. Heading into the night, Tahoe had failed to score a PP goal in their last two games, but that streak would end at 12:46 as Jake McGrew would feed Adam Pitters in the slot for his second of the year and first since November 27th. Tahoe would add another goal just 1:04 later as Adam Pitters would tip-in a shot from the point from Jake Stevens to complete a four-goal period and three goals in 6:47 for the Knight Monsters as they would carry a two-goal lead into the third period.
It wouldn’t take long for the Thunder to make this a game again, as Kishaun Gervais would feed Savva Smirnov on a two-on-one as Smironv buried his first career ECHL goal just 1:01 into the third period. Adirondack would get back-to-back powerplays in the third and, despite not scoring, looked very good on the PP, but it would be a turnover on the man advantage that gave Pinard a breakaway as he found the back of the net for his second for his 23rd of the year to put the nail in the coffin for the Thunder. Bear Hughes would add an empty-netter as the Thunder would lose 5-2. Jesper Vikman would make a season-high 40 saves for his 15th win of the season and first since January 19th. Adirondack and Tahoe will wrap up a three-game set tomorrow at 7:00 PM PST.
“Ya of course it is, it always feels nice but we didn’t get the result we wanted and the team is losing and we’re trying to focus on winning and win some hockey games. I don’t really focus on stats, I focus on the team effort”
Savva Smirnov on picking up his first ECHL goal on Friday Night
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