Game Preview: Stockton Thunder at Las Vegas Wranglers

Published on December 6, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


GAME: Stockton Thunder at Las Vegas Wranglers

DATE: Tuesday, December 6, 2011

TIME: 9:05 p.m.

SITE: Orleans Arena

RADIO: 1280 AM KWSX/StocktonThunder.com (AmericaOne)

NHL AFFILIATES

Stockton Thunder: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks

Las Vegas Wranglers: Independent

NEXT HOME GAME

Saturday, Dec. 10 vs. Bakersfield Condors, 7:30 p.m.

THUNDER FLEECE BLANKET GIVEAWAY (presented by Stockton Police Officers, KHOP 95.1, Angelina's Spaghetti House and The Record)

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Stockton Thunder visits the Las Vegas Wranglers to continue a three game road trip tonight. The game will be the fifth matchup out of ten this season and reunites Thunder head coach Matt Thomas with former assistant coach Ryan Mougenel (Las Vegas head coach). The two were behind the bench in coaching roles previously with Stockton and Fresno. The Thunder is 14-26-3 lifetime vs. Las Vegas and last faced the Wranglers on Nov. 26, winning 3-2 at Stockton Arena. The Thunder is 2-1-1 this season against Las Vegas.

SEASON SERIES (Thunder: 2-1-1)

Sat. Nov. 12 Stockton 3 at Las Vegas 4 (OT)

Sun. Nov. 13 Stockton 3 at Las Vegas 2 (SO)

Fri. Nov. 25 Las Vegas 3 at Stockton 2

Sat. Nov. 26 Las Vegas 2 at Stockton 3

Tue. Dec. 6 at Las Vegas 7:05 p.m.

Tue. Dec. 27 at Las Vegas 7:05 p.m.

Fri. Jan. 20 Las Vegas 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Jan. 21 Las Vegas 7:30 p.m.

Sun. Jan. 22 Las Vegas 4:00 p.m.

Fri. Mar. 16 Las Vegas 7:30 p.m.

LAST THREE GAMES:

STK 2 - ONT 0 (12/4/11): Rookie goaltender Olivier Roy earned his second shutout of the season and made 32 saves to help boost the Stockton Thunder (10-7-3, 23 points) to a 2-0 victory over the host Ontario Reign, before an announced crowd of 4,644 at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Sunday. Roy helped the Thunder turn the tables on the Reign, who put up a 4-0 shutout at Stockton Arena two days prior. The win was bolstered by two third period goals from Jesse Fratkin and Jordan Fulton, moving the Thunder to a 9-2-2 mark in Ontario since the 2009-10 season. Fratkin earned a goal and an assist to lead the offense and the Thunder jumped back into sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division.

ONT 4 - STK 0 (12/2/11): Goaltender Chris Carrozzi ended a ten game winless skid dating back to last season and posted 40 saves for his third career shutout, helping the Ontario Reign send the Stockton Thunder (9-7-3, 21 points) to a 4-0 defeat before 5,041 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday. Derek Couture scored a pair of goals and C.J. Stretch added a goal and an assist for the Reign, while the Thunder were blanked for the second time on home ice this season despite pouring 28 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes. They outshot Ontario 40-32.

STK 4 - ONT 3 (SO) (11/30/11): Goaltender Olivier Roy made 36 saves and stopped all five shots in the shootout, enough to boost the Stockton Thunder (9-6-3, 21 points) to a 4-3 shootout victory against the Ontario Reign at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Wednesday.Tony DeHart, Ian O'Connor and Jordan Foreman scored in regulation for the Thunder and used a first round goal by Ryan Martindale in the shootout en route to the win. The Thunder improved to 8-2-2 in the last 12 games in Ontario, dating back to 2009-10 and Roy won his third straight game against the Reign.

ROY WORRY?

Goaltender Olivier Roy has turned in some of his finest performances of the season this year as of late. The rookie netminder is 4-1-2 with a .944 save percentage and 1.80 goals against average since Nov. 1, Roy recently earned his second shutout of the season on Sunday at Ontario in a 2-0 win and was named runner up today for ECHL Goaltender of the Week. He was also named runner up for ECHL Goaltender of the Month (November) and took Goaltender of the Week honors on Nov. 22.

THE ROAD TO VICTORY

The Thunder leads the ECHL with seven victories on the road this season and carries a record of 7-3-2 away from Stockton Arena. The Thunder rank seventh in the ECHL in road power play percentage (20.4) and have played in six one-goal games on the road, remaining unbeaten in regulation (4-0-2).

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Familiar faces spell the Las Vegas lineup for tonight's game. Las Vegas forwards Geoff Paukovich (2007-09), Judd Blackwater (2008-10) and Adam Huxley (2006-09) were former members of the Thunder and head coach Ryan Mougenel served as assistant coach for Matt Thomas with the Thunder during the 2008-09 season. Previously, Mougenel also coached under Thomas in Fresno (2005-08) and played for Thomas in Atlantic City (2002-03).

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Matt Thomas is 19 wins away from 300 in his professional coaching career

- Matt Foy is 7 assists away from 100 in his professional career

- Jordan Foreman is 2 games away from 100 in his ECHL career

- Garet Hunt is 5 games away from 200 in his Thunder career

HUNTING DOWN A MILESTONE

Thunder left winger Garet Hunt has surpassed Mark Adamek as the club's career leader in games played. Hunt is in his fourth season as a member of the Thunder and last season, was named the team's "Unsung Hero" and "Fan Favorite." This season, he was named alternate captain on Oct. 13.

ALL-TIME THUNDER GAMES PLAYED

Player GP

1. Garet Hunt 195

2. Mark Adamek 186

3. Adam Huxley 183

4. Mike Lalonde 182

5. Daryl Marcoux 166

THUNDER CROWDS ROLL IN

An exclusive club, the Thunder averaged over 6,000 fans per game and drew over 200,000 fans for the sixth straight year in 2010-11, ranking second in ECHL in attendance with 6,382 fans per game. A whopping crowd of 9,482 piled into Stockton Arena on Jan. 22 for the "Teddy Bear Toss" game, the largest crowd at Stockton Arena for the season and the fourth crowd over 9,000 in the event's history. Stockton has 17 sellouts in the team's franchise history. They welcomed 12 crowds of 7,000 or more at Stockton Arena last season and had its highest attendance since 2007-08, a six percent increase from 2009-10.

The Thunder leads the ECHL attendance this season with an average of 6,091 fans per game.

GOAL ORIENTED

Thunder right winger Kevin Baker was signed as a free agent on Aug. 24 and brings a wealth of offensive accomplishments to the Thunder roster. He was named ECHL Most Valuable Player in 2008-09 and his 57 goals that season were most in the league since 2000-01. He ranks third in ECHL all-time goal scoring (since 2006-07) with 157 goals.

MOST GOALS, ECHL (SINCE 2006-07)

Rank Player Team GP PTS G A +/-

1 Wes Goldie AK 423 411 248 163 3

2 Mark Derlago IDH 281 340 174 166 41

3 Kevin Baker STK 286 319 157 162 17

4 Ryan Kinasewich UTA 205 292 131 161 -4

5 Marty Flichel IDH 382 358 131 227 -8

** Statistics include regular season and playoffs

DID YOU KNOW?

There have been 18 penalty shots taken by the Thunder in their franchise history, dating back to 2005-06. The last to convert was Chris D'Alvise at Ontario on Feb. 13, 2010 against goaltender Curtis Darling.

PENALTY SHOTS BY THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON

(3 MADE, 15 MISSED)

1. MISSED - Nathan Martz vs. Yutaka Fukufuji vs. Reading 12/27/05

2. MISSED - Joel Irwin vs. Yutaka Fukufuji vs. Reading 12/28/05

3. MISSED - Nathan Martz vs. Chris Beckford-Tseu @ Alaska 1/20/06

4. MISSED - Joel Irwin vs. Ryan Munce vs. Bakersfield 4/7/06

5. MADE - Tim Sestito vs. Ryan MacDonald vs. Fresno 12/27/06

6. MISSED - Tim Sestito vs. Derek Gustafson @ Alaska 1/24/07

7. MISSED - Mike Lalonde vs. Jamie Hodson vs. Bakersfield 2/2/07

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

9. MADE - Ryan Huddy vs. Jeff Zatkoff @ Ontario 11/12/08

10. MISSED - Stephane Goulet vs. Joe Fallon @ Fresno 11/14/08

11. MADE - Chris D'Alvise vs. Curtis Darling @ Ontario 2/13/10

12. MISSED - J.F. Caudron vs. Glenn Fisher vs. Victoria 3/5/10

13. MISSED - Kelly Czuy vs. Jimmy Spratt vs. Las Vegas 3/27/10

14. MISSED - Chris D'Alvise vs. Martin Jones vs. Ontario 10/16/10

15. MISSED - Mark Arcobello vs. Kellen Briggs vs. Ontario 10/23/10

16. MISSED - Chris D'Alvise vs. Peter Hirsch @ Bakersfield 10/29/10

17. MISSED - Garet Hunt vs. Joe Fallon vs. Las Vegas 12/29/10

18. MISSED - Garet Hunt vs. Andrew Engelage vs. Utah 11/4/11

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