Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Ontario Reign

Published on February 6, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


February 6, 2009 - Citizens Business Bank Arena

FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m.

RADIO: 1420 KSTN

INTERNET: www.StocktonThunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUP

11/12/08 Stockton 2 at Ontario 3 (SO)

11/15/08 Stockton 3 at Ontario 2 (OT)

11/26/08 Ontario 4 at Stockton 2

12/5/08 Stockton 3 at Ontario 2

12/6/08 Ontario 4 at Stockton 0

12/21/08 Stockton 2 at Ontario 6

2/6/09 @ Ontario 7:00 p.m.

3/18/09 @ Ontario 7:00 p.m.

2/15/09 Ontario 4:00 p.m.

3/8/09 Ontario 4:00 p.m.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder faces the Ontario Reign in the seventh matchup of the year between both the clubs, with developing first place implications riding the game. Entering tonight, the Thunder stands five points behind the Reign for the top spot in the Pacific Division. The teams face each other eight times in the regular season and the Thunder is 2-3-1 vs. Ontario this year. The teams last met on Dec. 21 in Ontario when the Reign defeated the Thunder 6-2.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES

2/4/09 - AK 1 at STK 3: Goaltender Andrew Perugini had to make only 19 saves to increase his winning streak to six straight games in net, helping the Stockton Thunder (21-20-5, 47 points) sink the Alaska Aces in a 3-1 victory before a crowd of 3,469 at Stockton Arena on Wednesday. The Thunder, who were equipped with just 14 skaters in the lineup, won their third straight game to surpass the .500 mark for the first time this season and climbed back to a five-point deficit behind the Ontario Reign for first place in the Pacific Division. Cory Urquhart, Ryan Huddy and James Bates scored for the Thunder while Alaska countered with a second period goal from Alexandre Imbeault.

1/31/09 - PHX 1 at STK 3: Goaltender Andrew Perugini made 32 saves for his fifth consecutive victory in net and veteran Cory Urquhart scored the eventual game-winning goal at 2:20 of the third period to guide the Stockton Thunder (20-20-5, 45 points) to a 3-1 win over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 6,610 fans at Stockton Arena on Saturday. The Thunder closed out January with a monthly record of 10-3-0 to reach the .500 mark and climbed to within five points of the Ontario Reign for first place in the Pacific Division, who lost 2-0 to the Alaska Aces tonight. The Thunder received additional goal-scoring support from defenseman Daryl Marcoux and Damian Surma. Forward Mark O'Leary tallied the only Phoenix goal in the third period, snapping Perugini's shutout streak of 110:25.

1/28/09 - STK 2 at VIC 0: Goaltender Andrew Perugini made 38 saves for the first shutout of his professional career and Geoff Paukovich and Mike Lalonde each scored a goal to lift the Stockton Thunder (19-20-2, 43 points) to a 2-0 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings before 5,102 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Wednesday. The win capped a grueling schedule for the Thunder, who had just four available defensemen in the lineup, played five games in six days and went 2-3-0 in the stretch. In the process, the Thunder snapped Victoria's club-record tying 12-game winning streak at home, leaving the Salmon Kings winless on their own home ice for the first time since Nov. 22 (4-3 OT loss vs. Alaska).

THUNDER'S WISH IS 'GINI'S COMMAND

Andrew Perugini is on a season-best six game winning streak in net, lifting his record to 10-6-2 as of Feb. 6. The rookie goaltender, who was assigned to the Thunder from the Springfield Falcons, garnered the first shutout of his pro career on Jan. 28 at Victoria, stopping 38 shots. In his last six games, Perugini has a 1.81 goals-against-average and a .940 save percentage. Perugini's efforts helped him finish runner-up for Reebok ECHL Goaltender of the Week (Jan. 26-Feb.1).

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 6,462 through 18 home games, has 13 sellouts in the team's franchise history and finished last year as the ECHL's attendance leader for the third consecutive season. It was the second straight year the Thunder surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season. The Thunder's yearly attendance total finished at 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder became 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). Stockton's crowd of 9,737 on Nov. 8 against Victoria was the team's first sellout of the year.

STEP UP TO THE MIKE

Returning to the lineup this season is left wing Mike Lalonde, who is the Thunder all-time leading goal scorer with 65 goals and ascended to the top perch as the Thunder all-time leading scorer with 137 points, scoring the milestone point on a goal on Dec. 21 at Ontario. Selected as the first player in Thunder history to the ECHL All-Star Game (2006), Lalonde led the ECHL with 308 shots and paced the Thunder with 29 goals as a rookie in 2005-06. Lalonde spent last season with Tilburg of the Netherlands League, guiding his team to the Dutch Cup and scoring 92 points (43g-49a) in just 34 games.

Below is a look at Lalonde's placing on the Thunder career scoring charts:

GOALS:

1. Mike Lalonde 65

2. Nathan Martz 29

Steve Slonina 29

3. Tim Verbeek 28

Ryan MacMurchy 28

POINTS

1. Mike Lalonde 138

2. Nathan Martz 122

3. Joel Irwin 68

4. Stephane Goulet 63

5. Ryan MacMurchy 56

STREAK UPDATE: Lalonde returned to the Thunder lineup on Jan. 16 and has scored 12 points (5g-7a) in his last 10 games. His four point effort (2g-2a) on Jan. 16 vs. Las Vegas tied a career-high for scoring and earned In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week honors on Jan. 23.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"That's probably the most complete win of the year because that's a very good hockey team," Urquhart said. "We worked hard, and it's very gratifying."

- Veteran center Cory Urquhart on the Thunder's 3-1 win vs. Alaska, The Record, 2/5/09

"What matters is how we played," Thomas said. "There have been a few complete games since I got here, and we played as well (Wednesday) as we have in any of them. It was a great effort, a well-executed game."

- Head Coach Matt Thomas on the Thunder's 3-1 win vs. Alaska, The Record, 2/5/09

PARTY LIKE IT'S 2009

Ever since New Year's Eve, the Thunder have enjoyed scoring in bunches from All-Star Ryan Huddy and rookie forward James Bates. Below is a look at how the Thunder duo ranks among the league's top scorers, since Dec. 31:

ECHL SCORING LEADERS (Since Dec. 31, 2008)

PLAYER

TEAM

GP

PTS

G

A

+/-

1)

* Bryan Ewing

Wheeling Nailers

16

30

17

13

8

2)

Ryan Kinasewich

Utah Grizzlies

14

30

12

18

10

3)

Kevin Baker

Florida Everblades

17

27

19

8

7

4)

* Jimmy Kilpatrick

Cincinnati Cyclones

15

24

11

13

5

5)

* James Bates

Stockton Thunder

15

22

8

14

7

6)

Mark Lee

Florida Everblades

14

21

8

13

6

7)

Travis Morin

South Carolina Stingrays

18

21

4

17

7

8)

* Mark Van Guilder

Cincinnati Cyclones

15

21

6

15

3

9)

Mike McLean

Dayton Bombers

16

20

6

14

4

10)

* Ryan Huddy

Stockton Thunder

16

20

10

10

4

11)

Barret Ehgoetz

Cincinnati Cyclones

16

19

9

10

6

12)

Peter Metcalf

Florida Everblades

15

19

2

17

5

13)

Brock Hooton

Reading Royals

12

19

5

14

9

14)

Ryan Lang

Florida Everblades

15

18

7

11

8

15)

* Maxime Lacroix

South Carolina Stingrays

17

18

9

9

5

* Denotes rookie

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