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Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Las Vegas Wranglers

March 4, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 9:00 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (23-31-3, 49 points) - 3rd, Pacific/7th National Conf.

Las Vegas Wranglers (36-11-11, 83 points) - 1st, West/1st National Conf.

2007-08 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

10/21/07 Stockton 1 at Las Vegas 4

10/23/07 Stockton 2 at Las Vegas 3

12/07/07 Las Vegas 2 at Stockton 3 (SO)

12/08/08 Las Vegas 2 at Stockton 1

01/01/08 Stockton 1 at Las Vegas 4

01/19/08 Las Vegas 4 at Stockton 1

01/20/08 Las Vegas 0 at Stockton 1

02/13/08 Las Vegas 3 at Stockton 0

03/04/08 Stockton at Las Vegas

MILESTONE TRACKER:

o Jason Beeman is 21 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Brian Lee is 10 games away from 200 in his professional career

o Lance Monych is 3 points away from 100 in his professional career

o Brandon Schwartz is 6 points away from 100 in his ECHL career

o Tim Verbeek is 17 games away from 400 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

For the final time of the 2007-08 regular season, the Thunder faces the Las Vegas Wranglers in a special 9:00 p.m. PT start from Orleans Arena. It's last of nine matchups between both teams this season. Both teams previously met on Jan. 13 at Stockton Arena with the Wranglers winning 3-0 on a 25-save shutout by goaltender Kevin Lalande. The Thunder is 2-6-0 in the season series and is 4-14-1 lifetime against Las Vegas. A win would give the Thunder its first victory at Orleans Arena since Mar. 28, 2006, breaking a seven-game winless skid (0-6-1) in the Sin City.

LAST GAME RECAP

Goaltender Tim Boron made 42 saves and Brandon Schwartz had a goal and an assist to help lift the Thunder to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones, ending Cincinnati's league-record 17-game winning streak in front of a crowd of 6,990 at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder gave the Cyclones its first loss since Jan. 13 at Reading and in the process ended all-star rookie David Desharnais' league-record 20-game assist streak, who scored the only goal for Cincinnati. Lance Monych, Schwartz and Tom Zanoski scored for the Thunder.

FIRST THING'S FIRST

Of the 23 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 22 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 seven "first goals."

SCHWARTZ'S FINE FEBRUARY

Center Brandon Schwartz led the Thunder with 13 points (5g-8a) in 14 games for the month of February. Schwartz's output mirrors the offensive output he produced in February last season for the Long Beach Ice Dogs, the best month of his 06-07 rookie campaign.

SCHWARTZ GP G A PTS

06-07 13 5 7 12

07-08 14 5 8 13

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder drew 6,990 in last night's game against Utah to remain the league's leader in attendance with an average of 6,466 fans in 30 dates (186,983 total), drawing 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

"The Stockton Thunder ended the longest streak in the league, and I think it sent the message that if we play our game, we can beat anyone," Zanoski said.

- Thunder left wing Tom Zanoski, The Record, 3/2/08 (on beating Cincinnati 3-1 to end the Cyclones' league-record 17-game win sreak)

SIR LANCE-A-LOT SETS THE PACE

Lance Monych's arrival to the Thunder roster already puts him atop the team's scoring lead with 43 points (27g-16a) and first in goal-scoring with 27 goals, entering today's game tied for ninth in the ECHL for goals. Monych has 10 points (6g-4a) in his last 10 games.

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.

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

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

DATE OPPONENT W/L/T SCORE AFTER 2 GWG

11/28 @Utah W, 4-3 (so) Trailed 1-3 (team - shootout)

11/23 Alaska W, 4-3 Trailed 2-3 Micflikier

11/3 Idaho W, 3-2 Trailed 1-2 Schwartz

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 WRANGLERS

The Las Vegas Wranglers are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Calgary Flames and the AHL's Quad City Flames and are in their fifth season of ECHL play. Glen Gulutzan is in his fourth season as general manager and head coach for the Wranglers. Las Vegas qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs last season with a Brabham Cup title for the league's best record, tallying a 46-12-14 regular season mark (106 points) followed by a second-round playoff exit against Idaho. Las Vegas sent Gulutzan as a coach and three players to January's ECHL All-Star Game at Stockton Arena, which included right wing Peter Ferraro, goalie Daniel Manzato and defenseman Jason Dest.



ECHL Stories from March 4, 2008


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.

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