Adirondack Thunder win 5th straight
1GLENS FALLS, N.Y. >> It wasn’t total domination, but darn near.
James Henry’s three assists added to his league scoring lead and netminder Cam Johnson, making his ECHL debut, stopped 34 shots as the first-place Thunder reeled off their fifth straight win, a 5-1 decision over the Newfoundland Growlers on Tuesday.
Adirondack closed out its October schedule with a 7-2 record, and moved four points ahead of the second-place Growlers in the North Division standings.
“Every game’s important,” Coach Alex Loh said. “If you’re not ahead early you’re going to spend the rest of the season trying to dig yourself out of a hole. We’ll definitely bank the points while we’re healthy and all our guys are here. We want to keep our foot on the gas because we know tougher times are ahead.”
Eight of the Thunder’s 11 games
in November are on the road, starting Friday at Worcester. They don’t return home until next Friday (Nov. 9) against Reading.
Their four-game homestand couldn’t have gone much better as they allowed just four goals, one per contest, during that stretch.
Johnson was assigned to Adirondack from Binghamton, the Thunder’s AHL affiliate in the New Jersey Devils’ organization, when Cory Schneider rejoined the NHL club on Monday, after being activated from the injured list. Schneider underwent offseason hip injury.
With his return, New Jersey backup goalie, Eddie Lack, was sent down to Binghamton, precipitating Johnson’s move to Adirondack.
“I’m just trying to fit in right now,” he said. “They’ve got a good thing going here that it’s nice to be a part of. They’ve obviously been winning a lot. They play the right way, they play hard, they play good D.”
“They guys have been good to me ever since I got here, super welcoming,” Johnson said. “They’ve all been awesome.”
A rookie out of the University of North Dakota, Johnson had a brief stint with Binghamton at the end of last season, and was 2-2 this year before getting reassigned.
He might have had a shutout Tuesday if not for a pair of Thunder penalties that set up a 5-on-3 Newfoundland power play, midway through the second period. As the first penalty expired, Growler Giorgio Estephan buried a shot in the net’s wide open left side.
But Adirondack had already erupted for four unanswered goals so the score stood, 4-1.
Peter MacArthur got things started six minutes into the contest with his fourth marker of the season. Henry banked a pass ahead off the right boards to MacArthur, who skated in alone and lifted the puck over netminder Michael Garteig’s right shoulder for a 1-0 Adirondack advantage.
Desmond Bergin’s power play goal, the first of two for the Thunder, made it, 2-0 at 12:09 of the first stanza. Bergin came down the slot and fired home a pass from John Edwardh, stationed behind the right side of the net. Mike Szmatula also picked up an assist on the play.
Things really started rolling for the Thunder when Brian Ward found the back of the net 45 seconds into the second frame. Henry’s initial shot hit Garteig’s leg pad and slid loose. Ward scooped up the puck and tipped it home with ease, as Garteig lay sprawled on the ice.
Shane Conacher’s wrister from the right circle pretty much sealed the deal, even with more than 30 minutes left to play. His score made it, 4-0, and Adirondack coasted home from there, with the exception of Newfoundland’s lone goal.
Conor Riley’s empty-netter rounded out the offense with 2:03 left on the clock.
The Thunder have had one of the league’s busiest schedules to date with nine games in the season’s first 18 days.
Loh, the team’s first-year coach, couldn’t be happier about how they’ve broken out of the gate. His goal now is steady improvement as the year progresses.
“There’s always things you can tighten up, just little details here and there,” he said. “There’s always things to work on. You’re never perfect.”