Thunderbirds drop tight road contest to FireWolves
Jan 6, 2024
(ALBANY, NY) January 6, 2024 – The Halifax Thunderbirds dropped their second game of the season at MVP Arena on Saturday night, falling 12-10 to the Albany FireWolves.
Randy Staats (1G, 4A) continued his consistent play on the year, while Austin Shanks, Ryan Benesch, Clarke Petterson, and Dawson Theede also finished with four-point nights.
Warren Hll finished the game with 35 saves, his highest total on the season to date.
The game started out on the right foor for the visitors, with Dawson Theede getting the opening goal of the game just 1:08 in. Austin Shanks followed him with a second goal for Halifax, but Ethan Walker got Albany’s first of the night under a minite later. Graeme Hossack got that tally back with a fantastic transition effort. Nathan Grenon answered quickly, and the two teams ended the first frame with Halifax holding a 3-2 lead.
In the second, Albany began to grab momentum with the home crowd behind them. Travis Longboat opened the quarter, and despite a Shanks answer, the FireWolves potted four straight – A pair from Patrick Kaschalk, another Longboat marker, and a transition goal from Joe Nardella.
Ryan Benesch ended the run with a goal in he final minute of the half to make it 7-5 Albany heading into the break.
But Halifax came out of the locker room with a spark, outscoring their opponent 3-1 in the third. Clarke Petterson scored a Power-Play goal at 10:41, and Benesch followed up with his second of the evening, tying things up. Sam Firth and Dawson Theede traded goals – with Theede’s crease dive being one of the highlights of the night – to send the teams into the final 15 minutes deadlocked at eight.
The Thunderbirds continued their mini run to open the fourth, with Staats and Shanks getting quick strikes in the first 34 seconds of the fourth quarter. But those would be the last of the game for Halifax. The FireWolves bounced back with a pair of the own from Alex Simmons. Firth added another with 6:17 to go to vault Albany into the lead, and Nick Chaykowsky iced the game with an empty-netter with 14 seconds left.
With the loss, Halifax now sits at 2-2 for the year. They’ll have a chance to break their current slump back at home when they welcome the Toronto Rock to Scotiabank Centre on Jan 12. Opening face-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. AT.