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6,170 fans enjoy Thunder rout, fifth consecutive victory

February 4, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Garet Hunt collected two goals, added an assist and combined with linemates Kevin Baker and Chris Doyle for a ten point effort to help the Stockton Thunder (23-18-4, 50 points) rout the Idaho Steelheads in a 7-2 victory before a crowd of 6,170 at Stockton Arena on Friday.

The Thunder, who collected their eighth win in the last nine games (8-1-0) and ran their season long win streak to five straight games, scored six unanswered goals and helped goaltender Alex Stalock improve to 5-0-0 in five games with a 29 save effort.

"I thought we played a real strong game," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "We haven't been overly successful after giving up the first goal, but we've been able to do it a little bit here lately and tonight was another example. Garet does so much for our team in other ways, where he sacrifices his body in fighting and playing with a physical style."

Doyle scored a goal and added three assists for a career high tying four point effort.

Jacob Cepis opened the scoring at 5:16 with his 17th goal of the season, converting off a defensive zone turnover with a breakaway attempt through Stalock's five hole.

The Thunder countered with three goals in a span 2:46 to rip off a 3-1lead. Hunt's fifth goal of the season tied the game at the 10:34 mark, converting off a Kevin Baker rebound.

Ian O'Connor's rebound goal for his 13th of the season lifted Stockton to a 2-1 lead at 12:17 and Baker followed up with another rebound stash, forcing goaltender Jerry Kuhn out of the game with 6:40 left in the first period for a two goal advantage.

Stockton expanded the lead to 4-1 with 13:57 left in the second when Hunt collected a centering pass from Doyle and slammed a one timer past backup goaltender Bryan Hince.

Skating into the zone on the rush, Matt Foy pulled up at the left boards and hit the trailer - Mike Little - with a cross-ice pass at the right circle for Little's fifth goal, boosting the lead to 5-1 at the 7:08 mark.

Doyle's 13th goal of the season, coming on the power play with 3:09 left in the second period, found the back of the net when he took Colten Hayes' pass from the blueline and blistered a one timer past Hince from the right boards.

Chad Nehring ended the run with 1:35 left in the second period when he stashed a loose puck over traffic and a fallen Stalock to cut the Thunder lead to 6-2.

The Thunder collected the only goal of the third period with 15:32 left in the third period when Foy buried a loose puck at the left post for his 12th goal of the season, following Hince's stop on a Colten Hayes blast from the point.

Already feasting on a three point game, Hunt nearly collected the hat trick on a power play with less than ten minutes remaining in the game but missed a rolling puck off his stick while positioned on the slot.

Stalock made ten saves in the final period to close out the win for the Thunder. Kuhn took the loss with seven saves in 13:20 of work. Hince, making his Idaho debut, earned 26 stops.

NOTES: Scratched for the game were Ryan Martindale (injured reserve), Tony DeHart (injured reserve), Gabriel Levesque (injured reserve), Jason Morgan (injured reserve), Nathan Deck (injured, day to day) and Thomas Heemskerk (injured reserve) ... Doyle collected his eighth goal in the last ten games ... the Thunder welcomed its tenth crowd of over 6,000 this season to Stockton Arena for a special "Hockey With Heart" event, associated with the "Go Red For Women" campaign.

The Thunder return to play tomorrow, hosting Idaho at 7:30 p.m. The game will be exclusively online for viewing (pay-per-view video charge) and listening (free of charge) at www.StocktonThunder.com, courtesy of AmericaOne.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the sixth consecutive season in 2010-11. Season Tickets for 2011-12 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/ .

THREE STARS

1. STK - 24 Garet Hunt

2. STK - 23 Chris Doyle

3. STK - 71 Kevin Baker



ECHL Stories from February 4, 2012


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