Thunder look to extend win streak against Mariners
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. >> The Thunder continue their homestand and look to extend a two-game win streak when hosting the Maine Mariners at Cool Insuring Arena on Friday.
Adirondack defeated Worcester, 4-1, on Wednesday behind a pair of goals by Desmond Bergin and one each from James Henry and Mike Szmatula.
“That was as good a 60-minute effort as we’ve put together all season,” coach Alex Loh said. “I thought the guys played the right way right from the start. It just carried through right to the end.”
The Thunder (4-2) come into the weekend tied with Newfoundland atop the ECHL’s North Division standings. Adirondack defeated the Mariners (2-3) in their season opener, in Maine.
On Wednesday, the Thunder reeled off four straight goals after falling behind early, 1-0.
“That’s huge,” Loh said. “Any time you can come back and score relatively soon after the other team it’s going to demoralize them because you’re always looking to gain momentum after you score. If the other team comes
right back at you and either generates a lot of chances or scores a goal themselves, all of a sudden the goal that you scored doesn’t have quite the same meaning.”
The homestand continues on Saturday with another contest against Worcester and concludes next Tuesday against Newfoundland.
“You’re always looking to generate momentum,” Loh said. “If you get a couple wins in a row you want to keep that going. Now we’re going up opponents a second time. We’ve beaten both of these weekend opponents (Maine, Worcester). It makes it that much tougher because they’re opponents that want to get you back.”
Henry, Adirondack’s team captain, got the equalizer against Worcester on Wednesday and Bergin scored the eventual game-winner midway through the second frame. Szmatula gave the Thunder a comfortable twogoal cushion with an early third-period marker and Bergin found the empty for his second score of the night.
“I think we’ve got contributions from a lot of people,” Loh said. “The balance has been really good. Hopefully we can continue with that for the foreseeable future here.”