MANCHESTER, NH – Drew Fielding turned aside all 30 shots he saw for his second shutout in as many starts this season, as the Adirondack Thunder defeated the Manchester Monarchs 2-0 on Sunday evening at Verizon Wireless Arena.
The story of the first two periods tonight was the goaltending, as Fielding and Doug Carr turned aside all shots sent their way through the first 40 minutes. Fielding led the way for the Thunder with 23 saves on 23 shots while Carr stopped 18 Adirondack shots for the Monarchs.
Michael Kirkpatrick finally cracked the scoreless deadlock midway through the third period, as he redirected home a Ryan Culkin point shot to make it 1-0 at the 11:36 mark of the final stanza. A tenacious forecheck from Kirkpatrick and Ben Johnson worked the puck to Jeff Silengo, who fed Culkin at the left point. Culkin fired a wrist shot through traffic that Kirkpatrick got a piece of for the goal, his ninth of the season. The goal moved Kirkpatrick into a tie for the team lead in goals on the season.
After they controlled much of the third period with 16 shots on net, the Thunder iced the game with just 15 seconds left on a Dana Fraser empty net goal. Johnson and Mathieu Brodeur collected the assists on the empty net tally, the first point in a Thunder jersey for Johnson.
The Thunder are back in action on Wednesday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center, as they battle the Elmira Jackals. The Thunder then hit the road for a back-to-back in Norfolk on Friday and Saturday, before a well-deserved break for the holidays.
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