GLENS Falls, NY- It was the two old guys and a kid line (Shawn Weller- Shane Harper-Patrick Grasso) that helped propel the Thunder to a 5-4 win in OT on Wednesday Night as they picked up their first win of the season vs. Maine Mariners to start a stretch of four games in five nights. Adirondack would get on the board early as Patrick Grasso fed Shane Harper, who opened the scoring for the Thunder; however, they would only hold the lead for 1:09, and it would be the only lead Adirondack would have in the game. Maine would get on the board as Nick Master fed Connor Bleakley to get the visitors on the board. The Mariners would take the lead as Mitchell Fossier walked in alone to beat Jake Theut on the PP as Maine took a 2-1 lead into the middle frame. Maine wasted no time in the second as Tim Doherty would put the Mariners up two just 1:08 into the period. Adirondack isn’t a stranger to being down two goals, as they’ve overcome multiple two-goal leads this season. Shawn Weller scored from his kitchen on the PP to put the Thunder within one.
Just 20 seconds after the Weller goal, silence would strike the Cool Insuring Arena as Nick Rivera was going for a hit on Bleakley and collided with him. Fluerentt was behind Bleakley, so Rivera took the brunt of the impact and was motionless on the ice as trainers and medics tended to him. Ultimately Rivera was able to skate off the ice on his own power, “He’s the hardest working guy on the team; he’s just out there with reckless abandon sometimes; I think it was a bit of an unlucky thing that happened to him, I was obviously very happy to see him up and moving after the hit” said Captain Shane Harper. The Thunder would cap off what was a five-goal second period. Both sides would get a PP opportunity in the third but fail to convert as we headed to OT. Coming into tonight, the Thunder had yet to beat Maine and hadn’t won a game in OT; that would change as once again it would be the Two Old Guys and a kid line that sent the Thunder fans home happy as Shane Harper Fed Patrick Grasso who found the back of the net for his 22nd of the season, and second of the game. Isaac Poulter made 34 saves for his seventh win of the season as the Thunder started their four-in-five on the right track.
