Carolina Edges Out Delaware

      Carolina came into Friday’s night game looking to win three straight. The Thunder were looking to win back to backs after beating the best in the east last weekend. The game had an unfortunate start as just past the 5-minute mark in a scoreless game. Steven Macintyre ran defensemen, Bryce Litke, from behind injuring him and taking him out of the contest. The high and very dangerous hit only cost Macintyre two minutes. Carolina would strike first right after the Media timeout. Jan Salak scored from the slot on a great feed from Petr Panacek and Jan Krivohlavek. Thunder struck quickly after when the captain Charlie Pens threw a shot on goal that had eyes and went by Patrik Polivka. Anton Kalinin added to the lead on a great shot from the low slot to give Delaware the lead. Joe Cangelosi scored with less than a minute to go in period 1 to square up the score going into the second. Aaron Taylor stopped 16 of 18 shots, and Polivka

  Period two was filled with penalties. There were four total penalties in the second period, Carolina was called for three penalties and Delaware one. None of the manpower changes led to any goals. The second period started the same way it ended 2-2.

   The great goaltending continued in the third. The game seemed destined for overtime with neither team able to find the back of the net. Then with just 6 seconds left in the third, an offensive zone faceoff for Carolina led to the game-winning goal. Stanislav Bachor ripped a shot on net through traffic and it found the back of the net. It was an unfortunate finish for the Thunder who once again stuck around with one of the top teams of the leagues. Aaron Taylor was phenomenal once again stopping 55 of 58 shots. These two teams meet again Saturday night at 6:05.