Manchester, NH – The Adirondack Thunder dropped their first game of the 2017 Kelly Cup Playoffs to the Manchester Monarchs by a 3-1 final on Friday evening at SNHU Arena.
The Monarchs opened the scoring for the series as captain David Kolomatis fired home a wrist shot from the top of the left-hand circle for his first goal of the postseason. After he won the puck on the boards, forward Matt Leitner sent a cross-ice pass to Kolomatis, who walked down the slot and beat Adirondack netminder J.P. Anderson top shelf for the goal. Leitner and Quentin Shore collected the assists on the play, the first of the playoffs for both players.
The hosts doubled their advantage just over five minutes into the second period as Daniel Doremus found the back of the net for Manchester. With the puck in the corner, Monarchs’ forward Daniel Ciampini spun and fired a pass to the slot, where Doremus one-timed it through the legs of Anderson for his first goal of the postseason. Ciampini and Shore collected the helpers on the play, Shore’s second of the evening.
Adirondack struck late in the second period with a power-play goal to cut their deficit to 2-1 heading into the second intermission. After he collected the puck at the left point, Brett Pollock sent a cross-ice feed to defenseman Ryan Culkin, who walked in and wired a shot from the right-hand circle past Manchester netminder Sam Brittain for the Thunder’s first goal of the 2017 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Pollock and defenseman Stepan Falkovsky collected the assists on the play, the first career postseason point for both players.
Despite a late-game push, the Thunder were unable to score and Shore iced the game with his third point of the evening, an empty-net goal, with six seconds left in the third period.
The Adirondack Thunder continue the 2017 Kelly Cup Playoffs tomorrow evening in Game 2 at SNHU Arena against the Manchester Monarchs. The Thunder then return home to Upstate New York for, if necessary, five home playoff games, beginning with Game Three on Tuesday, April 18, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for Games 3 and 4 at the Glens Falls Civic Center Box Office from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Individual game tickets start as low as $15 with all fees included. Fans can also purchase the “Playoff Four Pack”, with four ticket, four hot dogs and four sodas for $75.
