Game Preview: Stockton Thunder vs. Utah Grizzlies

Published on December 12, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 6:05 p.m. PT

SITE: The E-Center

RADIO: 1420 KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

2008-09 HEAD TO HEAD SERIES 12/12/08 @ Utah 6:05 p.m.

12/13/08 @ Utah 6:05 p.m.

2/13/09 Utah 7:30 p.m.

2/20/09 @ Utah 6:05 p.m.

2/21/09 @ Utah 6:05 p.m.

3/7/09 Utah 7:30 p.m.

3/27/09 Utah 7:30 p.m.

MILESTONE TRACKER oMike Lalonde is 5 points away from surpassing Nathan Martz as the Thunder career scoring leader

oRyan MacMurchy is 1 game away from 100 in his professional career

oCleve Kinley is 4 games away from 100 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP The Thunder faces the Utah Grizzlies for the first time this season in a back-to-back series at The E-Center on Friday and Saturday. Through 22 games in the lifetime series, the Thunder is 9-10-3 against Utah. Last season, the Thunder finished with a record of 2-5-2 in the head-to-head series. Friday's game is the first for the Thunder in Salt Lake City since April 5, 2008 when the Thunder dropped a 4-3 OT loss to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth in the final day of the regular season. Ryan MacMurchy had six points (2g-4a) in four games last year vs. Utah to lead returning Thunder players.

LAST THREE THUNDER GAMES 12/7/08 - STK 3 at FRE 4 (OT): Judd Blackwater's power-play goal at 3:30 of sudden death overtime helped the Fresno Falcons edge the Stockton Thunder (8-10-4, 20 points) in a 4-3 overtime decision, before a crowd of 5.688 at Selland Arena on Sunday. The Thunder received goals from Mike Salekin, Stephane Goulet and David Rohlfs. Goaltender Bryan Pitton made 27 saves to stretch his unbeaten streak (regulation) to three consecutive games. Counterpart Michael Ouzas stopped 19 shots for the victory.

12/6/08 - ONT 4 at STK 0: John Murray made 26 saves for the first shutout in Ontario Reign history and helped send the Thunder to a 4-0 loss before a crowd of 8,174 at Stockton Arena on Saturday night. It was the first time the Thunder suffered a shutout in the 2008-09 season, who were victimized by two-point efforts from Geoff Walker (1g-1a) and Dusty Collins (1g-1a). Thunder rookie goaltender Andrew Perugini countered with a 21-save effort in the defeat.

12/5/08 - STK 3 at ONT 2: Thunder goaltender Bryan Pitton made 35 saves and received support from a career-high two-goal night by Adam Huxley, helping the Thunder sink the Ontario Reign in a 3-2 victory at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Friday. Huxley scored two goals, aided by a game-winning goal from Stephane Goulet.

CROWDING OUT THE ECHL The Thunder leads the ECHL in attendance with an average of 7,048 through eight 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.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING "It was an intense game against our closest rival," Thunder coach Chris Cichocki said. "We played hard, but we beat ourselves. We had some costly turnovers in our zone. We would've liked to get the two points, but we have to settle for one." - Head Coach Chris Cichocki on the Thunder's 4-3 OT loss to Fresno, The Record, 12/8/08

"I'm just working hard," Huxley said. "I've learned to move my feet more and to get in position to get chances." - Adam Huxley on scoring six goals through 12 games, The Record, 12/6/08

WEEKLY TRANSACTIONS The Thunder transferred rookie defenseman Jordan Bendfeld from the seven-day to 30-day injured reserve list on 12/10. The following day, the Thunder was assigned rookie center Ryan Huddy, who is second in Thunder scoring with 18 points in 19 games, and rookie defenseman Cody Wild from the Springfield Falcons.

POWER TRIP Following a slide where the Thunder garnered a 1-for-26 clip on the power-play in five straight games, the man-advantage unit has countered with a power-play goal in 5 of the last 6 games, converting at a 7-for-28 rate (25%). The Thunder scored two power-play goals and went 2-for-4 on the man-advantage on 12/7 against Fresno in a 4-3 OT loss.

HUDDY HEATING UP Rookie forward Ryan Huddy enjoyed his first multi-goal game of the season in a 4-2 win vs. Alaska on 11/28, when he also earned a season-high three points (2g-1a). Huddy, who was reassigned to the Thunder from Springfield of the AHL on Thursday, has points in 9 of his last 10 games and for his efforts in the week of Nov. 23, garnered runner-up honors for ECHL Player of the Week and ECHL Rookie of the Month (November).

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 58 goals. 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 58

2. Nathan Martz 29 Steve Slonina 29

3. Tim Verbeek 28

4. Joel Irwin 25

POINTS 1. Nathan Martz 122

2. Mike Lalonde 118

3. Joel Irwin 68

4. Stephane Goulet 63

5. Brandon Schwartz 52

INSIDE THE NUMBERS - PENALTY SHOTS Entering the 2008-09 season, the Thunder has made 1 penalty shot and missed 7 penalty shots, while opponents had made 2 penalty shots and missed 7 penalty shots. Below is a look at Thunder and opposing penalty shots for this season:

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

1. MADE - Ryan Huddy vs. Jeff Zatkoff at Ontario 11/12/08

2. MISSED - Stephane Goulet vs. Joe Fallon at Fresno 11/14/08

PENALTY SHOTS VS. THUNDER - REGULAR SEASON 0 MADE, 1 MISSED

1. MISSED - Darryl Lloyd vs. Bryan Pitton at Victoria 10/26/08

OVERDUE IN OVERTIME The Thunder has an all-time record of 14-16 in sudden-death overtime and is 11-16 in shootouts. Below is a look at this year's Thunder game-winning goals in overtime and summaries of shootout winners: THE THUNDER OVERTIME WINNERS (THIS SEASON: 1-1) DATE OPPONENT SCORE GAME-WINNING GOAL 11/15 @Ontario W, 3-2 Kinley (1:50)

THE THUNDER IN SHOOTOUTS, THIS SEASON: 1-2 DATE OPPONENT SCORE SHOOTOUT GOALS GOALTENDER 11/7 Victoria W, 3-2 (Lalonde, Huddy, Kyrzakos) Perugini 11/12 @Ontario L, 2-3 (Urquhart) Perugini 11/14 @Fresno L, 4-5 (None) Pitton

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