The Adirondack Thunder and Jacksonville Icemen faced off on Wednesday Night for the first time since March 3rd, 2023, in a game Adirondack won 5-2. After coming off a 7-1 loss on Sunday Night, the Thunder needed to put out a solid effort to start their four-game road trip, but the Icemen had other plans. In the opening frame, it would be Zach Jordan who fed Brody Crane for a one-timer timer to open up the scoring at the 9:49 mark of the opening period. Once again, the Thunder would allow a goal in the final minute of the period as Connor Brown threw a shot at Tyler Brennan that snuck through him at the 19:09 mark of the opening frame as the Thunder would be down 2-0 after the opening 20 while also being outshot 16-7.
In the second, the former Adirondack Thunder defenseman Ivan Chukarov found the back of the net less than five minutes in to make it 3-0 Icemen. Heading into Wednesday Night’s game, it had seemed like the Thunder PP was finding its strides after scoring in back-to-back games, but it would hurt the Thunder on Wednesday as Ty Cheveldayoff scored a short-handed goal at the 6:33 mark of the second, making it 4-0 Jacksonville and for the first time all-season Tyler Brennan would get yanked after giving up four goals on 21 shots. The Icemen would be able to score another short-handed goal before the game was over as Garrett Van Whye, another former Thunder, would find the back of the net for the second short-handed goal of the game, and the Icemen would roll to a 5-0 Victory. Matt Vernon stopped all 30 shots he saw on Wednesday Night for his third win and first shutout of the season.
The Thunder have given up 11 unanswered goals to opponents in their last two games and their first two short-handed goals of the season. Tonight also marked the first time that the Thunder had been shut out since March 8th, which was another ugly loss as they lost 7-0 to the Maine Mariners. Adirondack will now head to Savannah to face the Ghost Pirates tomorrow night for their first-ever match-up against the Ghost Pirates. It’s tough to say that there are must-win games this early in the season, but for the Thunder, they need a decent performance tomorrow in Savannah before facing the South Carolina Stingrays for two games after the Stingrays made easy work of both Worcester and Maine last weekend.
