Salak Buries Wolves Late, Thunderbirds Win 3-2

Watertown, NY – Tied in the 3^rd period for the second straight night, Gus Ford found Jan Salak on a 2-on-1 beating Anton Borodkin with 57 seconds left in the 3^rd period to push the Carolina Thunderbirds past the Watertown Wolves, 3-2, on Saturday evening at the Watertown Arena.

Carolina (32-7-3) opened the scoring on the penalty kill early in the 1^st period. Jiri Pestuka weaved his way past Watertown’s (23-15-2) defense and beat Wolves goalie Anton Borodkin putting the Thunderbirds ahead, 1-0, just 3:28 into 1^st period. Davide Gaeta tied the game with 6:57 left in the 1^st and the two sides went to the 1^st intermission tied at one.

Neither side could figure out Borodkin or Boris Babik for Carolina in the 2^nd, but in the 3^rd, Jon Buttitta put Carolina ahead, 2-1, just over three-and-a-half minutes into the final 20 minutes. The Wovles would find an answer from Trevor Lord just over the midway mark in the 3^rd tying the game, 2-2, but the Thunderbirds had a late push down the stretch.

With just over a minute remaining in regulation, Gus Ford weaved his way past the Watertown defense creating a 2-on-1. Jan Salak crashed the back post tipping home the game-winner with 57 seconds left, finishing off Watertown, 3-2.

Carolina has now won 15 straight games, their second longest streak in franchise history. The Thunderbirds and Wolves meet for game three on Sunday evening in Watertown. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. from the Watertown Arena.