The Twin City Thunder had its four-game winning streak snapped Saturday night.
Connor Bradford made 29 saves for the Boston Advantage in a 3-1 win in a USPHL National Collegiate Development Conference game at the Raynham Iceplex in Raynham, Massachusetts.
“He has a really nice glove hand and we put a lot of pucks in his glove hand,” Thunder coach Dan Hodge said. “We didn’t get a lot of pressure in the zone or off of plays. We would get a couple of shots, then (the Advantage gained possession) or (Bradford) froze it (for a faceoff). He’s a good, solid goalie, but he frustrates us.”
The last loss for the Thunder (6-6-1, 13 points) came on Oct. 15 against the South Shore Kings, which was also on the road. Twin City is 1-5 on the road this season.
Hodge is wanting his players to match the opponents’ skating and win the 50-50 battles.
“(Boston) got us uncomfortable and we have some players that got to learn to play uncomfortable and not just play when (things are) easy,” Hodge said. “We have to work through that and find out what it takes to compete at this level.”
The Advantage (7-6-2, 16 points) took a 1-0 lead 2:46 into the second period when Connor Heaphy scored his seventh goal of the season.
The lead only lasted nine seconds as Nathan Chickering scored his team-leading eighth goal for Thunder, with Trace Norwell providing the assist.
“(Chickering) created a turnover and he came (into the offensive zone) to take a shot,” Hodge said. “I believe it deflected off one of their player’s stick…it beat (Bradford) over his glove.”
Johnny Hammel put the Advantage up 2-1 late in the second period with his eighth goal of the season.
Trevor Smith added an insurance marker in the middle of the third period. Former Maine Nordiques player Manny Sanchez had one of the two assists on the goal. Yahor Ramanau had the other.
Dane Couture made 33 saves for the Thunder in the losing effort.
The Thunder return home to Norway Savings Bank Arena on Friday night to take on the Jr. Bruins at 7:30 p.m.
Last week, the Thunder added defenseman Blake Tierney, who started the season with the Janesville Jets of the North American Hockey League, appearing in one game. He had an assist in his Thunder debut on Friday against the South Shore Kings.
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