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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Fresno Falcons (4-1-08)

April 1, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (26-39-3, 55 pts) - 4th, Pacific/T-8th National

Fresno Falcons (41-20-8, 90 pts) - 2nd, Pacific/2nd National

2007-08 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

11/12/07 Fresno 4 at Stockton 1

12/27/07 Fresno 0 at Stockton 2

01/16/08 Fresno 1 at Stockton 2

01/27/08 Stockton 2 at Fresno 5

02/09/08 Stockton 1 at Fresno 4

02/18/08 Stockton 2 at Fresno 3

02/22/08 Stockton 3 at Fresno 2

03/14/08 Fresno 4 at Stockton 3

03/15/08 Fresno 1 at Stockton 2

04/01/08 Stockton at Fresno

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Tim Verbeek is 6 games away from 400 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder and local-rival Fresno Falcons meet for the final meeting this season as the Thunder looks to strengthen it's spot in the Kelly Cup Playoff race and improve on its 4-5-0 season record against the Falcons. The Thunder enters Tuesday in a two-way tie for eighth place in the National Conference with Phoenix and is embarking on the final four-game road trip of the regular season. Tuesday's game will mark the final hockey game at Save-Mart Center in Falcons history - the team will re-locate to its former downtown Selland Arena home in 2008-09.

LAST GAME RECAP

Goaltender Tim Boron made 36 saves, including a 5-for-5 effort in a shootout to lift the Thunder to a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout win over the Victoria Salmon Kings before the fifth sellout crowd of the season of 9,737 at Stockton Arena in the home regular season finale on Saturday night. The Thunder maintained its eighth place tie in the National Conference with the Phoenix RoadRunners and reduced its magic number to seven points to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth (outright). Ryan MacMurchy scored the eventual shootout winning goal and Lance Monych and Tom Zanoski added first and third period goals, respectively.

FIRST THING'S FIRST

Of the 26 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 23 have come when the Thunder scores the first goal of the game. The Thunder is 23-12-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. Lance Monych leads the Thunder with eight "first goals."

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder announced that last Saturday's home game against the Victoria Salmon Kings was officially a sellout, marking the fourth capacity crowd of 9,737 that the Thunder has drawn this year at Stockton Arena. The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance and it is the second straight year the Thunder has surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. Saturday's crowd raised the Thunder's yearly attendance total to 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder is vying to become the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for three straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons).

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"When I was a player, I loved this time of year," Cichocki said. "There's pressure, but it can be a lot of fun, and we need to have fun with it and do what we have to do."

- Chris Cichocki, The Record, 3/26/08 on playing in games with playoff implications

SIR LANCE-A-LOT SETS THE PACE

Lance Monych's arrival to the Thunder roster has put him atop the team's scoring lead with 48 points (28g-20a), leading the team in goal-scoring with 27 goals.

GOAL(TENDING) ORIENTED

Goaltender Tim Boron has provided some of the most prolific goaltending in the Thunder's three-year history, recently breaking the single-season club record with three shutouts and made a career-high 50 saves against Las Vegas in a 1-0 win at Stockton Arena on January 20. Boron is tied for second in the ECHL with three shutouts. Meanwhile, Thunder rookie netminder Glenn Fisher, a fifth round selection (148th overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, has parlayed his two best months of the season in February and March. Fisher had a season-best 2.52 goals-against-average and .933 save percentage in February and has a.908 save percentage in March.

HI, MY NAME IS ...

The Thunder made two additions to its roster in the last two days, claiming defenseman Joe Dustin off waivers from the Bakersfield Condors. Dustin is slated to make his debut in a Thunder uniform tonight and has scored 27 points (7g-20a) in 58 games with the Bakersfield this season. Scheduled to make his professional debut Thursday at Utah is center Luke Lynes, signed by the Thunder as a free agent today after a four-year junior hockey career with the Brampton Battalion (OHL). Lynes had Lynes had a career-high 65 points (34g-31a) and 34 goals in 68 games with Brampton in 2006-07, leading the team in scoring, goals and power-play goals (20).

IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER ...

The Thunder has five wins this season when trailing after two periods, including four on home ice at Stockton Arena. Below is a look at the Thunder comeback wins when trailing through 40 minutes:

INSIDE THE NUMBERS - PENALTY SHOTS

Entering the 2007-08 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 6 penalty shots, while opponents had made 0 penalty shots and missed 4 penalty shots.

ABOUT THE FALCONS

The Fresno Falcons are in their fifth season of ECHL play and independent of an NHL affiliate - previously, they were affiliated with the San Jose Sharks, who departed their partnership after the 2006-07 season. Fresno has qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs in three consecutive seasons, led by head coach Matt Thomas who produced a 34-29-9 record (77 points), garnering a seventh seed in last year's playoffs. Star forward Luke Curtin, a five-time ECHL All-Star selection, returns to Fresno for his third consecutive season after leading the Falcons in scoring for the last two years.

2008 Playoff March Notes -

- The Thunder has 4 regular season games remaining.

- Stockton has regular season games remaining against the following teams:

● Fresno (1)

● Utah (3)

- The top eight teams in the National Conference will qualify for the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will be seeded by conference ranking (exception - division winners, who will be seeded #1 and #2) in the first round of the playoffs. The #1 seed will play #8, the #2 seed will play #7, the #3 seed will #6, and the #4 seed will play the #5 seed. First round winners will be reseeded again in the second round.

- If the Kelly Cup playoffs began today, the Thunder would face the Las Vegas Wranglers in the National Conference quarterfinal round.

- Currently, 62 points guarantees a playoff spot as the 9th place Phoenix RoadRunners can only amass 61 points this season.

- TIE-BREAKER: If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the following are the tie-breakers: wins, points (head-to-head), wins (head-to-head), goal differential (head-to-head), winning percentage within division (if in the same division), winning percentage within conference, goals for, goals against, and then coin toss.

- Last season, the Thunder clinched its first Kelly Cup Playoff berth in club history with the 5th seed and a 38-24-10 record (86 points)

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