The Brampton Beast capped off a heavy weekend schedule without a win in three games. First, they took on the Adirondack Thunder – ECHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames – first on Friday night at the Beast’s home opener at the Powerade Centre.
The Thunder were the first to get on the board, with a goal coming from Michael Kirkpatrick just 2:05 into the game. Brampton would respond with Bryan McGregor finding the back of the net off of a partial breakaway at the 11:34 mark of the first period.
But the tie didn’t last long, as the Thunder took back the lead roughly three minutes later with a goal from David Shields. Beast newcomer Josiah Didier was able to tie up the game late in the first, thanks to a powerful shot.
The Thunder got on the board quickly in the second, with goals from Rob Bordson and Mitchell Heard to make it 4-2 Thunder. But Travis Brown would start the comeback for the Beast by sending a wicked snapshot from the point onto Thunder goalie Ken Appleby.
The score wouldn’t change until the middle of the third, when Angelo Miceli, playing his first ECHL game of his career, found a rebound and made no mistake, tying the game up for the Beast. Adirondack was able to score on the powerplay early into overtime, as Bordson would add his second goal of the game just 58 seconds into the extra frame.
And that’s where it would end, with the Beast losing 5-4. Brampton then packed up their gear for the quick turnaround to Wheeling, to play the Nailers, ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Less than a minute after the puck was dropped, Beast newcomer Stefan Fournier and Patrick McGrath would square-up and drop the mitts, setting the tone for a physical affair.
Sahir Gill would get Wheeling on the board late in the first, and they didn’t stop there, with Jarrett Burton tapping in a rebound, and Connor Leen with a powerful shot to make it 3-0. Burton would then get his second goal of the game midway into the period to make it 4-0.
The Beast began to look better towards the end of the second period, which led to a fantastic goal from Tim Billingsley with a backhander. But, Clark Seymour would put another one in the Brampton net to make it 5-1 on the powerplay in the third, and that was all she wrote.
After that blowout, something needed to change for Brampton, as they were scheduled to play that same Wheeling squad the very next day back in Brampton. The Nailers would write a very similar script, jumping out to an early two-goal lead, thanks to both Cody Wydo and Clark Seymour scoring just 57 seconds apart.
The Beast answered back early in the second period, as Matthew Maione would get his team on the board with a beautiful slapshot from the point. This was followed by a nice goal from Brandon Marino just under three minutes later, firing a shot from a rather strange angle that seemed to confuse the Wheeling goaltender, evening-up the score.
Alas, the Nailers fired back and regained their lead, thanks to a power play goal from John McCarron. Then a nice goal by Derek Army would restore the two-goal advantage, and things were again beginning to look bleak for the Beast.
Just when all seemed lost, they would pull back within one. Marino would get his second of the game on the power play at the 15:34 mark of the third, but it was all for naught, as Brampton would lose this one 4-3. On the bright side, Eddie Pasquale had his best game for the Beast, saving 28 of the 32 shots he faced.
The Beast are without a win after five games this season. They’ll look to pick up where they left off on Friday, hopefully with a better result, as they will face the Toledo Waylleye at the Powerade Centre.
