Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Fresno Falcons

February 18, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 1:00 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (19-28-3, 41 points) - T-3rd, Pacific

Fresno Falcons (27-12-8, 62 points) - 2nd, Pacific

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 at Fresno

02/22/08 Stockton at Fresno

03/14/08 Fresno at Stockton

03/15/08 Fresno at Stockton

04/01/08 Stockton at Fresno

UPCOMING MILESTONES

o Jason Beeman is 27 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Andy Contois is 11 points away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Brian Lee is 17 games away from 200 in his professional career

o Brandon Schwartz is 15 points away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Tim Verbeek is 1 goal away from 100 in his professional career

o Tim Verbeek is 22 games away from 400 in his professional career

TODAY'S MATCHUP

Monday's matchup, a special 1:00 p.m. holiday start, is the sixth of 10 meetings between the Thunder and Fresno Falcons this season, separated by nearly 100 miles of travel. The Thunder is seeking for its first win at Save Mart Center in the club's all-time history, currently carrying 0-9-1 record in three seasons at Fresno. The Thunder is 2-3-0 this season against the Falcons.

LAST GAME RECAP

Goaltender Marek Schwarz made 39 saves and stopped the final 33 shots faced in the last two periods as the Alaska Aces sent the Thunder to a 3-1 defeat before a crowd of 5,879 at Stockton Arena on Sunday. The Thunder got its only source of offense on a goal by Brian Lee in the first period, garnered just two chances on the power-play and was held without a goal on both chances. Thunder goaltender Glenn Fisher made 28 stops in net despite taking the loss.

FIRST THING'S FIRST

Of the 19 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 18 have come when the Thunder scores the first goal of the game. The Thunder is 18-11-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. Ryan MacMurchy leads the Thunder with five "first goals."

M.A.S.H. UNIT

The Thunder has been skating without Beau Geisler (injured reserve), Ryan Geris (injured reserve), and Adam Huxley (injured reserve). Ryan MacMurchy (injury) missed last Saturday's game at Fresno and is listed as day-to-day. Additionally, injuries at the AHL and NHL level have summoned the services of center Ryan O'Marra, center Jonas Almtorp, left wing Stephane Goulet, left wing Jacob Micflikier, defenseman Brad Farynuk and defenseman Sebastien Bisaillon to AHL-affiliate Springfield. Injuries at the AHL have also claimed Micflikier (fractured leg) and Bisaillon (leg), with Micflikier scheduled to miss several weeks after suffering the injury in December while Bisaillon has been listed as out indefinitely.

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder remains the league's leader in attendance with a league-high average of 6,530 fans in 26 dates (163,797 total) and has drawn three sellouts (9,737) this season, the most recent coming a Saturday, February 16 game against Alaska. 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). The Thunder drew 244,085 fans to Stockton Arena in 2006-07 and drew the fifth largest crowd in ECHL All-Star Game history on January 23 with a total of 7,455 fans.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING - GOALTENDING

"Every game is a new entity, and you can't go in with preconceived notions," Boron said. "Honestly, a lot of the time I don't even know what the score is until the last two minutes. You worry about keeping the puck out of the net, and let your teammates do their jobs."

- Thunder goaltender Tim Boron (on forgetting about past games), The Record, 2/16/08

DAY-O

The Thunder will play in its first day game (earlier than 4:00 p.m.) of the regular season on Monday, February 18 at Fresno, a scheduled 1:00 p.m. start. The Thunder carries an all-time record of 4-2-0 in day games, including a 4-1-0 clip on the road.

IN THE NICK OF TIM

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. Below is a look at Boron's comparison (ranked by save percentage) through the first 19 games as a member of the Thunder, matched with past Stockton goaltenders:

PLAYER YEAR GAA PCT SO GAMES

DEVAN DUBNYK 2006-07 2.56 .920 1 19

TIM BORON 2007-08 2.91 .912 3 19

JEFF WEBER 2005-06 3.31 .905 0 19

JAKE MORELAND 2005-06 3.32 .905 2 19

CAM ELLSWORTH 2006-07 2.54 .894 1 19

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. Below is a look at Thunder and opposing penalty shots for this season:

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON 0 MADE, 1 MISSED

1. MISSED - Tom Zanoski vs. Michael Mole vs. Utah 2/6/08

PENALTY SHOTS VS. THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON

1 MADE, 1 MISSED 1. MADE - Bo Cheesman vs. Glenn Fisher vs. Alaska 11/21/07

2. MISSED - Gino Guyer vs. Tim Boron vs. Phoenix 1/26/08

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 the last two 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.



ECHL Stories from February 18, 2008


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