GLENS FALLS, NY (NEWS10) — Dylan Wendt recorded three points and Tyler Brennan stopped 15 of 16 shots as the Adirondack Thunder defeated the defending Kelly Cup Champion Trois-Rivieres Lions, 4-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,286 on Saturday night at Harding Mazzotti Arena in the team’s home opener.
The win marks the first on home ice for first year Head Coach, Sylvain Cloutier, who spent time with the Adirondack Red Wings and Albany River Rats during his playing career.
Adirondack opened the scoring with 5:14 left in the first period with a power play goal as Brannon McManus took a pass from T.J. Friedmann and fired a shot from the hash marks by goaltender Hunter Jones for the lead. The goal was McManus’ third of the season with assists from Dylan Wendt and Luke Reid.
Shortly after, Kishaun Gervais added to the lead as he tipped a T.J. Friedmann shot into the net just 21 seconds later for the 2-0 advantage. The goal was Gervais’ first of the year and the Thunder took that two-goal lead into the intermission, along with a 19-7 shot advantage.
Trois-Rivieres responded on the power play after Dan Ebrahim was denied a shorthanded breakaway chance. Tommy Cormier brought the puck back down the ice and set up Joe Dunlap for his second of the year at 5:23. Cormier and Cedric Desruisseaux were awarded the assists, and the Thunder lead was cut to 2-1.
After being denied twice earlier in the game, Cam Squires put in his first with the Thunder on the power play to give Adirondack a 3-1 lead. Dylen Wendt and Luke Reid collected their seconds assists of the game on Squires’ goal at the 13:44 mark of the second period.
T.J. Friedmann added to the lead with after a great pass from Dylan Wendt for a 4-1 lead. The goal was Friedmann’s first of the year, while Wendt collected his third assist of the game at 5:36. Brian Carrabes was awarded the secondary helper and the 4-1 score held up as the final score.
Tyler Brennan collected the victory, stopping 15 of 16 shots in goal for the Thunder.
