Adirondack derails Worcester 4-1
Desmond Bergin scored a pair of goals and Colton Phinney stopped 27 of 28 shots in net and the Thunder handled the Railers 4-1 Wednesday night at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
James Henry got Adirondack on the board with his first goal of the season at the 8:57 mark of the opening frame. The Thunder captain took in a stretch pass from Peter MacArthur and got in behind the Railers defense to beat Mitch Gillam with a patented wrist shot high on the blocker side.
The Thunder took a lead it wouldn’t relinquish when Desmond Bergin scored near the halfway mark of the second period. Henry added on to his ECHLleading assist total, shifting a slight pass to a cutting Bergin down the center of the ice. Ber-
gin made one move to his left and fired a wrist shot to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead.
Adirondack doubled its advantage just 70 seconds into the final period when Mike Szmatula potted his second score of the season. After a Worcester defensive zone turnover, Dennis Kravchenko gathered the loose puck and fired a hard pass onto the backhand of Szmatula who redirected it by Gillam for a 3-1 lead.
Bergin put the game away with an empty-net tally, his second of the game and third of the season from his own defensive end with 1:43 remaining.
Thunder netminder Colton Phinney turned in his best performance of the year, finishing the night with 27 saves. The Princeton University product put in his best effort during the start of the second period, mixing in a few nice blocker saves and gloving a few more when the Railers came charging.
Nick Bligh scored the lone goal for Worcester, his first of the season, at the 6:17 mark of the first period for the game’s opening score.
Adirondack stays home through the end of the month with home games on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday evenings. Saturday night is Military Appreciation Night in a rematch with Worcester. All games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. starts. For the latest Thunder news, be sure to follow the team on Facebook and Twitter.