The Adirondack Thunder have been playing better hockey lately and came into Saturday looking to snap a five-game losing streak in their third of seven straight games against the Trois-Rivieres Lions. Due to some call-ups, the Lions would skate two skaters short on Saturday Night. The first period hasn’t been friendly to the Thunder this season, as coming into tonight, they’ve been outscored 56-27 in the opening 20 minutes of play. On Saturday Night, it didn’t get any better for the Thunder as Tommy Cormier found a loose puck in front and made no mistake as he beat Muise to open up the scoring at the 3:47 mark of the opening frame. Just under 10 minutes later, Jakov Nokav would shoot a puck that would go off of Taylor Ford’s skate and in to double the Lion’s lead. It wouldn’t get better for the Thunder as Morgan Adam-Moisan would add a goal of his own as he put home a rebound at the 15:37 mark as things went from bad to ugly for Adirondack. The Thunder needed to catch a break, and they finally would in the final two minutes of the frame as Jackson van de Leest would feed Josh Filmon on the breakaway as he put home his team-leading 15th goal of the season as the Thunder had something positive to build off heading into the middle frame.
“It’s a 60-minute game, If we hand feed them goals it’s difficult to be positive after the game”
Head Coach Pete MacArthur when asked if there were any positivies from Saturday Night’s Performance
Head Coach Pete MacArthur would make a goalie change after the first period as Tyler Brennan would come in after Colby Muise gave up three goals on 12 shots. This season, the PP has been up and down, and on Saturday Night, it would be clicking as Grant Loven scored a garbage goal at the 6:38 mark to put the Thunder within one, but that wouldn’t last long as Xavier Cormier fed Isaac Dufort just 23 seconds after Loven to re-gain the Lions two-goal lead. Just before the two teams would leave the ice for the second, Kishaun Gervais and Morgan Adams-Moisan would get into a scuffle; however, it would be Adam-Moisan getting the only penalty as the Thunder would start the final frame with a five-on-three for eight seconds. Adirondack took advantage during the PP, but Jackson van de Leest would fire a shot from the point shortly after it expired for his first pro goal and multi-point game of his career. The goal by Van de Leest marks the fourth player in the last eight days to pick up their first career ECHL goal.
“Ya, felt really good would have been better with the win but I thought that we came close their in the third and really rallied and happy to be a part of it with my goal there”
Jackson van de Leest on picking up his first pro goal on Saturday Night
The Thunder would hold the Lions to just four shots in the third, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Lions would take a 4-3 victory and have now won the last eight games against Adirondack after being shutout by Jeremy Brodeur in the first matchup of the season. Hunter Jones continues his stellar year as he made 37 saves to improve to 12-0-4 on the season; Tyler Brennan gets stuck with the loss despite giving up just one goal on 12 shots in relief. These two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon before heading out to Trois-Rivieres next weekend as Adirondack will begin an eight-game road trip.
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