Thunder tied for first place, big weekend ahead
GLENS FALL, N.Y. » The Thunder moved into a first-place tie by defeating the Brampton Beast, 3-2, on Sunday, setting up a major showdown as Adirondack heads to Manchester, N.H. this weekend for a showdown between the ECHL North Division’s top two teams.
The teams will do battle Friday and Saturday nights.
There are just seven games left in Adirondack’s regular season, which ends Sunday, April 8 at Brampton.
This past Sunday’s win completed a three-game weekend sweep as the Thunder also defeated Fort Wayne and Wheeling on Friday and Saturday, respectively, by identical 3-2 scores. Both of those contests, played on home ice, ended in overtime.
“This is a really resilient group,” Coach Brad Tapper said.
Defenseman Desmond Bergin scored the game-winning goal for the second straight game Sunday while forwards Austin Orszulak and Kenton Miller also found the back of the net in the victory. Bergin won Saturday’s game 20 seconds into overtime.
Goaltender Olivier Mantha made 32 saves Sunday as he improved to 3-1-1 on the season.
Brampton opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game on forward Brandon Marino’s 17th goal at the 4:22 mark. After Adirondack was unable to clear its own zone, defenseman Jordan Henry’s shot from the point was turned aside by Mantha, before Marino slotted home the rebound from close range for the game’s first goal. Henry and forward Alex Foster collected the assists on the play, Foster’s 20th of the season.
Adirondack came back with a pair of first-period goals to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. First, just 11 seconds after Marino’s goal, Orszulak knotted the score at one with his fifth tally of the season. Forward Pierre-Luc Mercier threaded a cross-ice pass to Orszulak in front, where he beat Brampton netminder Marcus Hogberg for the goal.
The Thunder struck again with 5:04 left in the opening period as Miller, stationed in front, redirected a shot from defenseman Mathieu Brodeur past Hogberg for a power-play goal, Miller’s second tally as a member of the Thunder.
The Thunder added an insurance tally just past the halfway mark of the third period as Bergin scored a five-on-three goal for the 3-1 advantage. Bergin and forward Troy Bourke criss-crossed at the top of the right-hand circle, before Bourke fed Bergin for the one-timer, which was placed over the shoulder of Hogberg for Bergin’s 15th tally of the season, which ties him for second in the ECHL in goals by a defenseman. Bourke collected the lone helper on the play, his 17th of the season.
The Beast cut the Adirondack advantage back to a single goal with 3:44 left in regulation as forward Brandon MacLean beat Mantha on a rebound to cut the score to 3-2. But that’s all the offense Brampton could muster as the Thunder skated off with the win.