The Adirondack Thunder kicked off Stick It To Cancer Weekend, a weekend that is bigger than the game on the ice. Last Year on Stick It To Cancer Weekend, the Thunder raised $46,897 to benefit C.R. Wood Cancer Center’s Randy’s Patient Assistance Fund. For Adirondack Thunder forward Ryan Wheeler, Stick it To Cancer Weekend touches a little closer to home than in years past.
“It touches a little bit closer to home this year. My sister just got a scan and found out she was cancer-free, she was diagonsed with Thyroid Cancer earlier this year and had her thryoid removed and she just found out she was cancer free, so ya it touches close to home this year”
Ryan Wheeler on what this weekend means to him
Adirondack would come out much better than they did on Wednesday Night and would get some early chances in the opening minutes, but Ben Gaudreau would keep a lid on things to keep things scoreless early on in the opening frame as he searched for his fifth straight win. One of the biggest momentum shifts in hockey is late-period goals, and that’s exactly what the Thunder would get as Grant Loven would get a tip-in to open up the scoring with 25 seconds left in the opening frame. Despite being outshot 12-8, the Thunder would hold a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The Thunder would be able to carry that momentum into the second, as it would be Greg Smith who had a very similar goal to one that Loven had, as Smith found the back of the net at the 4:37 mark of the second to give the Thunder a two-goal lead. Dennis Busby, claimed off waivers from Fort Wayne on Thursday, would pick up his first career point on the primary assist and finished the night with two assists. Adirondack would end the period as Lucas Brenton was called for tripping at 17:07. The Thunder wouldn’t be able to convert, but would hold a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.
“A lot of good guys in that room, all super friendly and they made it really easy for me”
Busby when asked about the smooth transition from Adirondack to Fort Wayne
Heading into the third period, the Adirondack Thunder looked to keep hold of their two-goal lead, but they wouldn’t make things easy on themselves. Adirondack would give the Fuel a PP opportunity less than five minutes in which they killed, and then would give the Fuel a golden opportunity with a five-on-three for 1:30 in a possibly game-changing moment. The Thunder would be able to kill off the penalty, and then it would be Kishaun Gervais on the doorstep to put home his 10th of the season and his second goal in his last three games.
Things would start to get chippy late in the game as Ryan Wheeler and Jesse Tucker would exchange some friendly blows and get rewarded with double minors at the 15:56 and then just 11 Jordan Martin would throw Ryan Conroy into the boards and chaos would ensue. Conroy and Ty Farmer would drop the gloves; for Farmer, it would be his first career fight. As the referees were sorting out the penalties, Kishaun Gervais and Colin Bilek would drop the gloves, and once everything was sorted out, we would have 62 of the 74 penalty minutes handed out at the 16:07 mark of the third period.
The two teams finished off the final 3:57 peacefully, as Jeremy Brodeur would make 30 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, which ties Ken Appleby for second in Thunder history for shutouts in a single season. Ben Gaudreau stopped 19 of 22, as his four-game winning streak ended on Friday Night.
No, that’s what we wanted, we wanted a little bit extra and I don’t think we looked like the last place team in the conference, that’s for sure”
Head Coach Pete MacArthur
The Thunder and Indy Fuel will wrap up the three-game series for the second night of Stick it to Cancer Weekend tomorrow night.
ITR 31: Let Them Fight – Inside The Rink
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