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Thunder Visit Ontario

November 11, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Arena: Citizens Business Bank Arena

Date: Tuesday, November 11

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Broadcast: ECHL.TV and Spreaker beginning at 6:45 p.m.

This Year's Record: Stockton is 0-1-0-0 vs. Ontario

Follow the Thunder Facebook Page for occasional updates or follow @StocktonThunder on Twitter for the play-by-play tweeting!

Last Time Out

The game against Utah didn't begin well for the Thunder as a bad turnover in their own zone led to Utah's first goal and then at the end of the period, former Thunder defenseman Marc Cantin scored a power play goal to put Utah up 2-0.

However the Thunder came out and put on a good show in the second period and despite Lukas Sutter in the box for slashing, the Thunder had their first "Grade A" scoring chance of the game. Ryan Constant fired a clearing attempt around the boards that got past the Utah defenseman, giving Tyler Maxwell an opportunity to push up the ice. With Prab Rai in the middle, Maxwell sauced a pass to the former Vancouver Canucks draft pick and he deflected the pass in past Joe Howe bringing the Thunder back into the game.

It didn't take long after that for the Thunder to tie the game as Howard Lenz found himself in the box giving the Thunder a power play. The league's second best unit would make the Grizzlies pay as once again Maxwell played a smart pass, this time to Jack MacLellan, who took a shot that was blocked but defenseman Austin Levi came right through and put the rebound in tying the game up.

With no scoring happening in the third period and overtime, the team once again turned to Maxwell who got the Thunder started off and in the lead during the shootout. Then it was the Shane Owen show as the goalie stopped the other four Utah shooters, breaking the streak and giving the Thunder their first win since October 25.

Tonight

The Thunder hope to build on their shootout win over the Utah Grizzlies at home as they take to their second longest road trip of the season, which starts in Ontario. After losing four-straight games, the Thunder came back in their own barn with a big win to break the streak and hopefully start a positive one.

Last Time vs. Ontario

The last game against the Ontario Reign is what sent the Thunder to their fourth-straight loss as the SoCal side was powered by Derek Couture's hat trick and Coach Jason Christie's 800th career ECHL game coached in a 7-2 win. It was the Thunder's second big defeat in a row, having gave up a total of 15 goals in two games.

Who to Watch

The man to watch tonight is the recently returned Tyler Shattock, who joins the team for practice ahead of tonight's game. Shattock spent 3 games and nearly two weeks with the Worcester Sharks of the AHL. While the big power forward didn't pick up any points in the AHL, he's happy to be back with the Thunder, and Head Coach Rich Kromm is happy to have him back.

"Obviously it was nice to see him to get an opportunity in Worcester," Kromm said. "He's an important player for us so we're glad to have him back. Shattock provides a lot of different elements to our team, he's got good size, finishes his checks, he can score. He does a lot of different things for us so we're glad to have him back."

Shattock had 2 goals and 2 assists in 5 games played with the Thunder to start the year. Shattock can seemingly do everything, score, play physical, solid two-ways, etc... He's definitely the man to watch tonight for the Thunder.

Shane Owen Shines

Shane Owen has really been a bright light for the Thunder this season, and stood tall in the Thunder's shootout victory over Utah. Tyler Maxwell may have scored the shootout winner, but it was Owen who stopped all five shooters en route to the 25 save win, his third this season.

Owen is second in the league with 213 saves this season behind Bakersfield netminder Ty Rimmer who has stopped 287 pucks.

Ahhh Memories

The last time the Thunder were in Citizens Business Bank Arena, the team had completed their sweep of the Ontario Reign in last season's opening round. The Thunder went 5-2-0-2 in Ontario during the regular season and added 4 playoff wins in the opening round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Quotes

"I think everyone has to be better. We don't want to allow the shooting opportunities from the point. They like to generate a lot of chances from the top and they put a lot of traffic to the net. Three of their goals against us last week were shots from the point with pressure in front of our net so we have to be better at pressuring their defenseman at the top and we also need to do a better job clearing the front for our goaltenders." - Coach Kromm on what the team has to do differently against the Reign tonight

"Period at a time, shift at a time. We have to just keep plugging away, be good and keep getting better every shift. We have a difficult stretch with these five games here and lots of travel, and not easy buildings to play in, so we need our guys to contribute in many different ways." - Coach Kromm on how the team can carry the momentum from the Utah shootout win

"I have some great memories here last year, and some great guys. I'm just pumped to be back here and play again in this building." - J.T. Barnett on being back in Citizens Business Bank Arena

"It's good to be back and playing, and back with my team. My experience this time was similar to that of my previous four years. Same league, nothing too different this go around." - Tyler Shattock on being back with the Thunder and his time in Worcester

"I think it's fun and I try to work on the shootouts in practice. It's a skills competition, me versus the shooter, and I just try to have fun with it." - Shane Owen on shootouts

"We have to play our game, and play hard for 60 minutes. We need to work hard the entire game and when we do, things will go our way." - Shane Owen on what the team has to do differently against the Reign tonight

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