Thunder win second-straight at Norfolk
NORFOLK, VA » he Adirondack Thunder won second straight game over the Norfolk Admirals as they skated to a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Norfolk Scope.
Adirondack got goals from five different players as forwards James Henry, Andrew Radjenovic, Shane Conacher, Austin Orszulak and Brian Ward each found the back of the net. Defenseman Mathieu Brodeur chipped in with two assists and goaltender Tomas Sholl won his third straight start as he stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced.
Norfolk opened the scoring 4:07 into the game as forward Thomas Frazee scored just after an Admirals’ power play had expired. After Adirondack returned to even strength, Norfolk forward Grant Besse fed Frazee in the slot, where he saw his shot turned aside by Sholl, but Frazee whacked the rebound out of mid-air and into the net for the game’s first goal. Besse collected the lone assist on the play, his 24th of the season.
The Thunder responded with a pair of goals in the second half of the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. First, at the 15:47 mark of the opening stanza, Henry gloved down a deflected shot by Brodeur and slotted the rebound around Norfolk netminder Jamie Murray for his 15th tally of the season. Adirondack struck again with 43 seconds left in the opening period Radjenovic collected an errant Admirals’ turnover through the slot, spun and fired a wrist shot on net that beat Murray on the
blocker side for his sixth goal of the season, an unassisted tally.
Adirondack took its first two-goal lead of the evening midway through the second period, courtesy of a Shane Conacher power-play goal. After he took a feed from defenseman Dylan Olsen, Conacher walked in from the left point and sent a wrist shot over Murray’s shoulder for his 11th tally of the season. Olsen and defenseman Mathieu Brodeur collected the assists on the play, Olsen’s 12th of the season.
The Admirals pulled a goal back at the 14:41 mark of the middle stanza to cut the Adirondack advantage to 3-2. After Norfolk killed off a 5-on-3 power play by the Thunder, defenseman Michael Young, fresh out of the penalty box, collected the loose puck and skated down the right wing on a breakaway. Young saw his first shot kicked aside by Sholl but collected the rebound on his backhand and scored his eighth goal of the season, an unassisted tally.
The visitors added an insurance tally just past the halfway mark of the third period as Orszulak scored his third goal of the season to put Adirondack ahead 4-2. After he collected the puck in the right-hand corner, Orszulak eluded a check, drove to the front of the net and slid the puck past Murray’s right pad for the goal. Conor Riley collected the lone assist on the play, his ninth helper of the season.
The Thunder completed the scoring with an emptynet goal for the second consecutive game, coming off the stick of Ward, who found the back of the net from his own zone. Ward’s goal was recorded as unassisted.
The Thunder return home on Friday, February 16 as they host the Brampton Beast at Cool Insuring Arena for $1 beer night and a t-shirt giveaway. Visit ECHLThunder.com or call 518-480-3355 ext. 1 to get tickets for Friday’s game an all upcoming Thunder home games.