Sports stats



Engelage turns away last second barrage from Sharks-jersey clad Thunder

February 5, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Andrew Engelage denied two last-minute, game tying attempts by Jarrett Konkle and Jim McKenzie to preserve a 27-save effort and help the Utah Grizzlies defeat the Stockton Thunder (23-13-7, 51 points), 2-1, before 4,888 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night.

The Thunder, who wore authentic teal jerseys of the San Jose Sharks, their co-NHL affiliate, fell in regulation for only the second time in the head-to-head series (4-2-0). Jesse Gimblett scored a power-play goal in the second period, Stockton's only marker, answered by Brett Parnham's game-winning goal with 3:50 gone in the third period.

"Every pass was into the skates or we were scared to pick up passes," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "We failed to reach our level of standard for intensity and emotion. Giving credit to Utah, they played a great road game. We shouldn't be comfortable because we're a first place caliber team. We have a lot to work on, and a short time to do it."

Though the opening period was scoreless, ten different Stockton players all registered a shot on goal within the first twenty minutes. Both Stockton and Utah had power play chances, starting with the Thunder at 3:55 when Riley Emmerson received a two-minute minor for boarding.

Then at 3:32 of the second period, Utah's Kevin Deeth received a minor holding penalty and the Thunder were able to capitalize on the man-advantage.

Gimblett got his 12th goal of the season and made it 1-0 after beating the glove of goaltender Andrew Englelage. Parked to the left of the net, Gimblett received a nice pass from Chris Lawrence and proved quicker than the goaltender when he stuffed the puck into the back of the net.

The Grizzlies leveled the score to 1-1 with a goal by Maxime Tanguay at 15:15, cutting into the middle of the slot and re-directing a Hugo Carpentier pass through Tyson Sexsmith's five-hole.

Utah claimed the lead within the first three minutes of the third period when Brett Parnham made it 2-1, on an unassisted goal. Parnham picked off a Jordan Bendfeld clearing pass at the high slot and beat Sexsmith on the blocker side at 3:50 with a wrist shot.

However, Stockton earned a last-minute power-play after Utah's Simon Ferguson was given a minor tripping penalty in the last twenty seconds of the game, the Thunder could not tally up the score by the final buzzer despite a one-timer from Jarrett Konkle and McKenzie's face-off win at the right circle, shoved on net with one second left, which Engelage stopped with the left pad.

The game marked Engelage's 17th win this season and Sexsmith dropped to 4-2-2 with the loss.

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from February 5, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central