6,397 Thunder fans enjoy first home win, O'Connor's three point effort

Published on October 30, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Ian O'Connor scored a goal, added two assists and goaltender Thomas Heemskerk made 28 saves to help the Stockton Thunder (2-3-1, 5 points) sink the Idaho Steelheads with a 4-3 victory, in front of 6,397 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday.

The Thunder earned their first victory at home and scored three unanswered goals during the course of the game. Defenseman Tony DeHart scored the game winning goal and rookie forward Cameron Abney chipped in with a first period goal - both players netted the first goal of their pro career.

"I liked the way, with as few players as we had late and a tie game - we weren't hanging on - we were pushing," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "That was important for us, regardless of how tired the guys were going to be for postgame. It was a must win game for us, we needed to treat it that way and I thought the guys did a good job of it."

The Idaho Steelheads opened up the scoring with their first goal of the first period this season. The goal came at 8:55 when Chad Klassen beat Heemskerk with a backhanded shot on a 4 on 4 skating situation.

The Thunder answered back with a goal by Abney at the 16:08 mark. He had open real estate in front of the Steelhead net and converted a centering pass by Milan Kytnar from the right goal line.

Stockton opened up the scoring with a pair of back to back goals in the second period en route to a 3-1 lead. The first goal was scored by O'Connor on a beautiful, text book one timer at the right circle. The goal came at 8:02 on a delayed penalty call and was assisted by Dan Ringwald, who fed O'Connor with a cross-ice pass.

"O'Connor's proving to everybody he can be a difference maker," said Thomas. "He's been a difference maker for two nights in a row. He's a hard working guy who understands the game, comes from a good program in Providence, has good habits, doesn't take many shortcuts and as a result, he's getting rewarded."

Fresh off the assist, Ringwald was able to score a goal nearly two minutes later. Ringwald was able to beat Steelhead goaltender Jerry Kuhn with a back door goal at 9:54 into the second period, cashing in on Kytnar's feed from the right boards.

Idaho got back into the game by getting a goal on the first shift following Ringwald's goal. At 10:33 into the second period, defenseman Kory Scoran beat Heemskerk through a screen with a wrist shot from the blueline.

Things got chippy late in the second period after three separate squabbles broke out near the Steelhead goaltender. But the main event was between Abney and Steelhead counterpart Ian Lowe, who went toe to toe but the linesmen eventually separated the two players.

Idaho came back to tie the game again, 3-3 with Ondrej Roman's second goal of the season at 4:51 of the third period, completing Matt Case's backdoor pass at the left goal post.

But the Thunder answered the two straight Steelhead goals by swiping the lead again with DeHart's goal, who beat Kuhn upstairs from Jordan Foreman's feed from the left corner, to put the Thunder up 4-3 at 7:33 into the third period.

Kuhn was pulled with 47 seconds left to play for the extra attacker but two offside calls against Idaho forced Kuhn to come back into net. The Thunder where able to hold off the Steelheads and close out the game.

Kuhn took the loss with 27 saves.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Jody Pederson (healthy), Mike Little (injured reserve), Ryan Martindale (healthy), Gabriel Levesque (healthy), Jesse Fratkin (injured reserve), Colten Hayes (injured reserve) and Sebastian Owuya (injured reserve) . . . The Thunder where 1 of 4 on the power play while Idaho went 0 for 5 on the power play ‚¬Â¦ the teams shots on net where even at 31 apiece ‚¬Â¦ O'Connor now has five points in the last two games.

The Thunder returns to play next Friday November 4, hosting the Utah Grizzlies at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. Radio coverage of the game will be available at 1280 KWSX. Online coverage is available 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 - 26 Ian O'Connor

2. STK - 29 Thomas Heemskerk

3. STK - 6 Dan Ringwald

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