The Adirondack Thunder and Worcester Railers met for the eighth and final time of the 2024-25 season, with Worcester winning five of the first seven games. For the Thunder, they would come out slow, but Jeremy Brodeur would bail them out early, making some big saves early to keep Adirondack in the game. Adirondack’s PK, which had struggled all season, was 12/12 in their last four games. That streak ended as Justin Gill would open up the scoring for the Railers for the second straight night. Gill has points in his last six games and nine of his last 10 ECHL games. Despite being outshot 16-5 in the opening 20 minutes, the Thunder headed to the locker room, only trailing by one.
Adirondack tied the game in the second as Dan Ebrahim scored his second goal in three games. At the halfway mark of the period, the game would start to get chippy. Sean Gulka and Lincoln Hatten kicked it off with a fight at center ice to get the Worcester crowd going, as the penalties were being sorted out, Worcester’s Matthew Kopperud cross-checked Kishaun Gervais. Kopperud would get a major for cross-checking and a game misconduct. Adirondack got a golden opportunity to take the lead with the five-minute PP, which ended after 3:50 as Ryan Conroy took a penalty. Neither team would score in the second as they combined for 30 minutes of penalties in the middle frame.
Adirondack continued to shoot themselves in the foot as they took a penalty less than two minutes into the period. The Railers PP would take advantage as Cam McDonald fed Ryan Mahshie for a one-timer to take a 3-2 lead. The Thunder responded as Josh Filmon followed up a shot from Isaiah Fox and netted his 19th of the year, as the game would be tied once again with 11:43 left in the 3rd. Gervais would get a breakaway opportunity with less than four minutes left, but Michael Bullion made the save, which would preserve at least one point for the Railers as the game headed to OT.
Ian Pierce would feed Gervais, who wouldn’t be denied this time, scoring his 11th of the season to win it. Brodeur would stop 40 saves for the second time this season, but this time would come away with the win. Bullion stopped 28 saves in the loss. Adirondack will head back home to begin another three-in-three, this time with the Maine Mariners. The Railers will play a do-or-die two-game series in Reading against the Royals for the fourth and final playoff spot. Worcester has been eliminated during the final weekend for the last three seasons. The Railers currently hold the fourth spot by two points. Reading does have one game in hand on Worcester.
ITR 32: The Final Countdown – Inside The Rink
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