x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

Tampa Bay Lightning ECHL affiliate recap: Adirondack Thunder Week 5 in Review

The epic November road trip for the Adirondack Thunder continued this week with a brutal four-games-in-five-days stretch.  But the team was up to the challenge, and thanks to some help from the Syracuse Crunch, they would go 3-0-0-1 and jump from the near bottom of the North Division to a tie for second place.

11/8: Adirondack 4, Quad City 1

Scoresheet

The week would begin in Moline, Illinois, as Adirondack faced off against the Mallards, another former United Hockey League foe.

Adirondack would jump ahead 1-0 6:57 into the first period on Terrence Wallin’s 4th goal of the season.  Quad City’s Josh MacDonald had a chance to cut the lead in half after being awarded a late penalty shot, but would be denied by Nick Riopel.  A few seconds later, Eric Neiley would score his 5th of the season to double the Thunder lead.

In the second, the Mallards would get on the board with a shorthanded goal by forward Brayden Low, cutting the lead in half.  But the Thunder would put the game away for good after a Ty Loney goal with 8:15 remaining in the period would put the Thunder ahead 3-1.

James Henry would add an empty netter, his fourth, with 9 seconds to go in the game to seal the win.  Riopel stopped 22 of 23 Mallard shots in his fourth win of the season.

3 Stars:

3. Nick Riopel (ADK) 22 saves

2. Conor Riley (ADK) 1 assist

1. Eric Neiley (ADK) 1 goal

11/10: Adirondack 4, Kalamazoo 1

Scoresheet

The sleeper bus headed north to Michigan to start a 3 in 3 weekend, as the Thunder faced the Wings in the first of two games.  Two new faces would join the lineup, as goaltender Connor Ingram would swap places with Nick Riopel, who joined Syracuse, and get the start in net.  Also new to the scene from Syracuse was defenseman Matthew Spencer, who would finally get in a game for the first time since late October.

After a scoreless first period, the Thunder would be first to get on the board early in the second period.  Henry’s fifth goal, and second in two games, would put Adirondack on top 1-0.  Kalamazoo would tie the game with 8 minutes remaining in the second on a goal from defenseman Kyle Bushee.  That tie would last all of 36 seconds, as J.C. Campagna would score his third goal of the season to put the Thunder ahead 2-1.

Adirondack would put the game away in the third with a pair of goals. Loney’s 7th goal on a power play 8:53 into the third would give the Thunder a 3-1 advantage.  Wallin would add his 5th less than three minutes later for a 4-1 lead.  Ingram would take care of the rest. He was outstanding in his ECHL debut.  He would stop 33 of 34 shots, including this:

And this:

3 Stars:

3. Kyle Bushee (KAL) 1 goal

2. Ty Loney (ADK) 1 goal

1. Connor Ingram (ADK) 33 saves

11/11: Adirondack 5, Kalamazoo 2

Scoresheet

Less than 24 hours later, the same two teams would meet in Michigan for the rematch.  Ingram would be back between the pipes for his second straight start.

Rookie forward Pierre-Luc Mercier would pick up his second goal of the season shorthanded 6:45 into the contest for a 1-0 Thunder lead.  He would then assist on Henry’s third goal of the week, his 6th, to put Adirondack ahead 2-0.  Kalamazoo’s Anton Cederholm would cut the lead in half with 1:37 remaining in the first.

Early in the second, the Wings would tie the game at 2 on a goal by Josh Pitt.  But rookie forward Austin Orszulak, making his first appearance since October 20th due to injury, would singlehandedly put the Thunder ahead for good, scoring his first two goals of the season in a span of 5:02 to put Adirondack ahead 4-2.

For good measure, Loney would score his 8th on a power play just 34 seconds into the third to finish off a two game sweep of the Wings and extend the Thunder win streak to 3 games.  Ingram was outstanding for the second straight night, stopping 25 of 27 shots.

3 Stars:

3. Anton Cederholm (KAL) 1 goal

2. Pierre-Luc Mercier (ADK) 1 goal, 1 assist

1. Austin Orszulak (ADK) 2 goals

11/12: Brampton 2, Adirondack 1 (SO)

Scoresheet

After traveling all night from Michigan to Ontario, the Thunder took to the ice on Sunday afternoon to face a rested Beast squad that had not played since Friday night.  Ingram would get the nod for the third straight day between the pipes, hoping to carry over his strong play from the Kalamazoo series.

For the first time all week, Adirondack would find themselves trailing, as a goal by the Beast’s Jordan Henry 12:34 into the opening period would give Brampton a 1-0 lead.  That lead would hold up until the third, where just 40 seconds in Loney would score his 9th goal on a power play to tie things up at 1.

That score would carry over into overtime, where the Thunder had a power play 1:39 in but were unable to capitalize.  It was on to the shootout, where for the first three rounds both teams were unable to score.  Henry, Shane Conacher, and Loney were all denied, while Ingram was 3 for 3.  Wallin would be stopped in the fourth round, but Brampton’s Stefan Fournier would connect, giving the Beast the win and keeping the Thunder one point shy of a perfect week.

For a goaltender who was playing his third straight game of the weekend, Ingram was outstanding once again, stopping 37 of 38 in 65 minutes, but was outdueled by Brampton’s Andrew D’Agostini, who stopped 44 of 45 and was a perfect 4 for 4 in the shootout round.

3 Stars:

3. Jordan Henry (BRM) 1 goal

2. Connor Ingram (ADK) 37 saves

1. Andrew D’Agostini (BRM) 43 saves

Roster News as of 11/13/2017:

ADD: D Matthew Spencer, reassigned from Syracuse 11/10

DELETE: D Ryan Segalla, traded to Norfolk 11/10

DELETE: G Nick Riopel, reassigned to Syracuse 11/10

ADD: F Ben Murphy, acquired via trade with Norfolk 11/10

ADD: G Connor Ingram, reassigned from Syracuse 11/10

DELETE: D Matthew Spencer, recalled to Syracuse 11/13

DELETE: G Connor Ingram, recalled to Syracuse 11/13

ADD: G Nick Riopel, reassigned from Syracuse 11/13

Team Leaders:

Goals: Ty Loney, 9

Assists: Pierre Luc Mercier, 9

Points: Ty Loney, 15

Plus/Minus: Kevin Lough, +5

Penalty Minutes: Brian Ward, 19

Wins: Nick Riopel, 4

Goals Against Average: x-Connor Ingram, 1.30

Save Percentage: x-Connor Ingram, .960

(x-currently not on active roster)

Division Standings:

(as of November 12th)

  1. Manchester: 13 GP, 8-3-1-1, 18 pts
  2. Wheeling: 11 GP, 7-2-2-0, 16 pts
  3. Adirondack: 13 GP, 7-4-1-1, 16 pts
  4. Reading: 10 GP, 6-3-1-0, 13 pts
  5. Worcester: 11 GP, 5-5-1-0, 11 pts
  6. Brampton: 13 GP, 4-7-1-1, 10 pts

This Week:

The second half of Adirondack’s road trip continues with three more games.  On Tuesday, they head to West Virginia for a 10:45 AM start against Wheeling. Thursday, they pay a visit to Norfolk to take on the Admirals.  Finally on Saturday, the Thunder head back north to Manchester to face the Monarchs.

If you enjoyed this article please consider supporting RawCharge by subscribing here, or purchasing our merchandise here.

Support RawCharge by using our Affiliate Link when Shopping Hockey Apparel !