After starting their 12 game road trip on a disastrous note, the Adirondack Thunder packed up the sleeper bus and headed to the Midwest to take on two Central Division foes, Fort Wayne and Cincinnati, to finish the first quarter of the road swing.
11/3: Adirondack 4, Fort Wayne 2
The first stop of the week would be in Fort Wayne, where, for the first time since December 2005, a Glens Falls-based team (back then, it was the United Hockey League’s Frostbite) would face the Komets.
The two teams would exchange goals in the first period. Fort Wayne would take a 1-0 lead 8:41 in on Jamie Schaafsma’s second goal of the season. Brian Ward would answer that with his fourth less than 2 minutes later to tie the game up at 1.
The Thunder would jump ahead 2-1 early in the second period, as Shane Conacher would pick up his second goal since coming down from Syracuse. Paul Rodrigues, making his first appearance for the Thunder in over a week, would score his first of the season with 4:26 remaining in the period to double the Adirondack lead. Fort Wayne would cut the lead to 3-2 with 1:13 to go in the second on a goal by Artur Tyanulin.
Adirondack would put the game away in the third. Schaafsma was awarded a penalty shot 1:30 into the period, but would be denied by Thunder goaltender Nick Riopel. Terrence Wallin would then pick up his third goal of the season with 15:18 remaining in the game for a 4-2 Thunder lead.
The win would halt the Thunder’s losing streak at 2 games.
Riopel rebounded nicely from a horrible start in Sunday’s loss in Reading, stopping 29 of 31 Komet shots in winning his third game of the season.
3 Stars:
3. Paul Rodrigues (ADK) 1 goal, 1 assist
2. Terrence Wallin (ADK) 1 goal, 1 assist
1. Brian Ward (ADK) 1 goal, 1 assist
11/4: Cincinnati 2, Adirondack 1
The road trip headed east to Ohio on Saturday, as the Thunder took on Buffalo’s ECHL affiliate, the Cyclones. Despite being outshot 12-8 in the opening period, Cincinnati would jump out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Chris Leone. Defenseman Eric Knodel’s first goal of the season on a power play with 6:23 to go in the second period would double the Cyclone lead.
The Thunder would finally get on the board 7:26 into the third, as Ty Loney picked up his fifth goal of the season on a power play to cut the lead in half. The Thunder defense would step it up in the final period, only allowing one shot on goal, but the offense was unable to get the equalizer.
Riopel took the hard luck loss in net, stopping 15 of 17 shots.
3 Stars:
3. Chris Leone (CIN) 1 goal
2. Eric Knodel (CIN) 1 goal
1. Anthony Peters (CIN) 24 saves
Video:
Roster News:
ADD: D Mathieu Brodeur, returned from Springfield 11/3
Team Leaders:
Goals: Ty Loney, 5
Assists: Eric Neiley, 7
Points: Ty Loney/Eric Neiley, 11
Plus/Minus: Stephen Johnson, +4
Penalty Minutes: Brian Ward, 15
Wins: Nick Riopel, 3
Goals Against Average: Nick Riopel, 4.30
Save Percentage: Nick Riopel, .862
Division Standings:
(as of November 5th)
- Manchester: 10 GP, 5-3-1-1, 12 points
- Wheeling: 8 GP, 5-1-2-0, 12 points
- Worcester: 9 GP, 5-3-1-0, 11 points
- Reading: 7 GP, 5-2-0-0, 10 points
- Adirondack: 9 GP, 4-4-1-0, 9 points
- Brampton: 10 GP, 2-6-1-1, 4 points
This Week:
Another busy week for the Thunder, as they have four games on tap. On Wednesday Adirondack heads back west to Illinois, where they will face the Quad City Mallards, another old foe from the UHL days. Friday and Saturday, they head to Michigan for a pair of games with Kalamazoo, the old Tampa ECHL affiliate. Finally, on Sunday, they cross the border for an afternoon face off with division rival Brampton.
