Bounces Cost Thunder in 5-2 Finish

February 12, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


BLOOMINGTON, Illinois - Friday night from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum,the Bloomington Thunder fell 5-2 to the Green Bay Gamblers in a physical battlewith their Eastern Conference rival. The Gamblers (24-12-3-2) capitalized ontheir chances with three unanswered. The Thunder (22-14-3-1) countered backwith two goals in the second half of the game. Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) netted his second goal in asmany games for the Thunder in the loss.

The tough fought first periodended in a 2-0 deficit for the Thunder off some bad puck luck. The first goalfor the Gamblers came on a cross-ice pass from the United States HockeyLeague's leading assist man MarcMichaelis (Minnesota State University-Mankato). The pass was pushed off thestick of Ryan Smith and hit thecross bar before bouncing off the back of Thunder goaltender Logan Halladay (Merrimack College) andinto the back of the net.

One minute later the Gamblerscapitalized on another odd bounce. The puck came to the front of the net offafter bouncing off the boards. Then JoshDunne crashed the right side of the net before tapping it into the net. Thethird bounce of the game came in the second period. The puck ramped behind theThunder defense sending Jason Dhooghe(Ohio State University) on a breakaway. He sent the Gamblers ahead 3-0 withhis fourth of the season shorthanded.

The Thunder answered back 10minutes later. Ethan Somoza (BemidjiState University) scored his third of the season to put the team on theboard. A shot from the blue line by MattFoley (Yale University) was stopped by AdamHuska (New York Rangers) through a screen. With the puck lying on the goalline the Thunder forward tucked a rebound shot underneath the cross bar. Huskawould finish the night with 29 saves and his 16th win of the season.Halladay made 17 on the night, including a phenomenal save in the second,diving out with his paddle to stop the puck.

With the lead at two, theThunder countered but found themselves on the penalty kill to finish theperiod. Sam Saliba (Michigan StateUniversity) netted his USHL leading 12th power play goal withMichaelis grabbing his second assist of the night and eventually the number onestar.

In the third, the Thunderwere out to tie the game and win the period. With 11 shots in the final frame,the power play came through for Slaker's 10th of the season. Theoffense was stymied in the game by the Gambler's defensive unit and penaltykill as the Thunder were 1-8 on the power play. The Gamblers added an emptynetter with under a minute to play to seal the win and even the season seriesat 2-2-0-0.



United States Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2016


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