Falcons Sweep Fourth In A Row From Thunder

February 13, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - With three consecutive wins against the Stockton Thunder already under their belt heading into today's contest, the Fresno Falcons completed a four-game sweep with a 4-1 victory at Stockton Arena on the strength of two goals from Fraser Clair and 33 saves from goaltender Jamie Holden.

For the third time out of the four games between two the clubs this week, the Thunder struck first. Joel Irwin's shot from the left circle was blocked, but it bounced off a second set of Falcons shin pads and back past Holden to give Stockton the lead just 1:54 into the game. Fresno answered on a five-on-three power play. Luke Curtin's shot from the point didn't get through, but Clair swept the puck in from between the circles to tie the game at one at 9:32. The visitors took a lead that they would never relinquish when John Wroblewski scored shorthanded from Kelsey Muench at 13:11 to give the Falcons a 2-1 edge heading to the second.

The middle period was a hard-fought 20 minutes that featured plenty of physical play and lots of power play time for both sides. The game appeared headed to the third with Fresno still in front 2-1, until Curtin fed Clair on a two-on-one down low for a back-breaking goal with under seven seconds remaining in the period.

The two-goal deficit was too much for Stockton to overcome, and Shawn Weiman added his third of the year on a pretty play from J.F. Plourde and Brett Hammond at 10:07 of the third for the final margin in the Falcons' 4-1 victory.

Fresno moves to 29-8-10 with 68 points, nine points ahead of the idle second-place Long Beach Ice Dogs atop the Pacific Division. The Falcons remain unbeaten against teams from their own division with a record of 15-0-4 on the year.

Fresno returns to the ice on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. when they host the Idaho Steelheads at Save Mart Center. The game is a Carl's Jr. Two-for-Tuesday, with two-for-one coupons available at participating Carl's Jr. restaurants.

Individual tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets and Save Mart Center's box office with prices ranging from $8 - $22. For complete ticket information and an arena map of Save Mart Center, visit www.fresnofalcons.com/singletickets.html, or contact the Falcons front office directly at (559) 485-PUCK (7825).

1st Period Summary: 1, STK, Irwin 16 (Gardner, Lalonde), 1:54. 2, FRE, Clair 14 (Curtin, VanBallegooie), 9:32 (pp). 3, FRE, Wroblewski 15 (Muench), 13:11 (sh).

2nd Period Summary: 4, FRE, Clair 15 (Curtin, Mather), 19:53.

3rd Period Summary: 5, FRE, Weiman 3 (Plourde, Hammond), 10:07.



ECHL Stories from February 13, 2006


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