Thunder falls to Brampton Beast
Pucks bounce the wrong way for Adirondak in 4-1 loss
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. » Things didn’t go well right from the get-go when Paul Rodrigues’ shot rang off the left post, right after the opening face-off.
Instead of a roar, the crowd let go with loud, “Aaahh,” in response to the first of many missed Thunder opportunities.
“That was a momentum killer right there,” Thunder coach Brad Tapper said. “I think we had four or five posts. I believe in puck luck and bounces, but you have to create them yourself by hard work and I thought we got outworked tonight.”
The result was a 4-1 loss to the Brampton Beast in ECHL North Division action on Friday -- the first contest in a five-game Adirondack homestand.
The loss, combined with a win by first-place Manchester, leaves the Thunder in second place, three points away from the top spot.
Adirondack was playing without its entire first line as Ty Loney and Troy Bourke are out with injuries, and Shane Conacher was called up recently to Syracuse in the AHL.
“But no excuses, we’ve been missing guys the whole year,” Thunder captain Mike Bergin said. “Guys have been stepping up and playing well. We were looking for it this game and it didn’t work out for us.”
Two of the Beast’s first 11 shots found their mark, starting midway through the opening stanza when Brampton’s Nathan Todd scored a goal that seemed to defy physics.
The Brampton forward was behind the end line, about 15 feet left of Adirondack’s goal, when he fired a magic shot David Copperfield would have been proud of.
Eyeing a miniscule opening, with his stick just over the line, Todd hit the back of Thunder netminder Drew Fielding’s helmet and the puck caromed under the crossbar for a 1-0 Beast lead.
“I was a foot behind the line. There was no chance I was curving the puck in from that far,” Todd said, with a laugh. “I knew if I hit him in the head it was 50-50. It was either going out in the middle or it was going in, and I lucked out.”
Fortune never seemed to smile on Adirondack, however.
The second period opened with the Thunder on a power play, which they failed to convert. They were 0-for-4 on the night including a four-minute man advantage late in the middle stanza, and a lengthy 5-on-3 power play early in the third period.
“Our power play got outworked, which is really disappointing,” Tapper said. “We need to be better on special teams, that’s for sure.”
Jamie Doornbosch scored the game-winning goal at 9:37 of the second frame. Adirondack finally got on the board 3:08 into the third period on Evan Neugold’s score from close range, which made it, 2-1. But the Beast answered three minutes later and again with 4:25 left to play.
The Thunder return to action Wednesday in the first of three straight home games against the Florida Everblades, which are first overall in the Eastern Conference. Games two and three are Friday and Saturday, respectively.