GLENS FALLS, NY – In front of a sold out crowd on home ice, the Adirondack Thunder came up big and completed a weekend sweep over the Elmira Jackals with a 3-0 victory on Saturday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
The first 40 minutes came and went without a goal, despite Adirondack outshooting Elmira 26-7 through the first two periods. Adirondack forward Phil Lane nearly opened the scoring drought as he generated a breakaway opportunity midway through the second period but his wrist shot to the chest was turned aside by Iles. Iles was the story of the first 40 minutes as he made 26 stops while Thunder goaltender Ken Appleby turned away each of the seven shots sent his way.
Adirondack finally put an end to the scoring drought less than three minutes into the third period. After the Thunder failed to score on a power-play opportunity to open the period, forward Mikkel Aagaard opened the scoring to put the home side ahead by one. Defenseman Roman Dyukov carried the puck down the right wing and saw his shot turned aside by Iles, but Aagaard crashed the net and pushed the puck through Iles’ five hole for the first tally of the evening. The goal for Aagaard was his second of the season, while Dyukov’s helper was the second of his professional career.
The Thunder were able to double their advantage at the 13:02 mark of the third. Aagaard carried the puck into the Elmira zone and dished a perfectly timed pass to teammate Brian Ward, who was able to one-time the puck into the back of the net. The tally was Ward’s team leading fourth of the season, while Aagaard and defenseman Kevin Lough collected the helpers on the play, the second multi-point game of the season for Aagaard.
The home side struck again quickly as they found the back of the net just 20 seconds after Ward’s tally to extend their advantage to three. Positioned at the bottom of the circle, Lane put home Adirondack’s third goal of the evening off of a feed from Captain Peter MacArthur. The tally was Lane’s third in two nights while MacArthur and Matt Bailey netted the assists, the second point in two games for Bailey since joining the Thunder.
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