Game Preview: Stockton Thunder Vs. Victoria Salmon Kings

Published on March 29, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


FACEOFF: 7:30 p.m. PT

RADIO: 1420-AM KSTN

INTERNET: www.stocktonthunder.com (B2 Networks)

RECORDS:

Stockton Thunder (25-39-3, 53 pts) - 4th, Pacific/T-8th National

Victoria Salmon Kings (40-22-5, 85 pts) - T-1st, West/T-3rd National

2007-08 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

11/14/07 Stockton 4 at Victoria 7

11/16/07 Stockton 3 at Victoria 4

11/17/07 Stockton 1 at Victoria 2 (OT)

12/28/07 Victoria 5 at Stockton 3

02/07/08 Victoria 4 at Stockton 3

03/26/08 Victoria 7 at Stockton 6

03/29/08 Victoria at Stockton

MILESTONE TRACKER

o Tim Verbeek is 7 games away from 400 in his professional career

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Thunder faces the Victoria Salmon Kings for the final meeting in the regular season and the regular season home finale at Stockton Arena, as the Thunder heads to its third straight ECHL attendance title. The Thunder looks to snap a six-game losing skid with the Kelly Cup Playoff race heating up and is searching for its first win of the year against Victoria with a record of 0-5-1 in the regular season. The Thunder enters the day in a two-way tie for eighth place in the National Conference with the Phoenix RoadRunners.

TONIGHT'S GUEST

The Stockton Thunder welcomes staff from the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League to tonight's game, attended by Oilers development coach Bob Mancini.

LAST GAME RECAP

Aaron Gagnon's game-winning goal 5:10 into the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and helped the Idaho Steelheads send the Thunder to a 4-3 loss, its sixth straight setback, before a crowd of 6,889 at Stockton Arena on Friday night. The Thunder was led by a two-goal effort from Ryan MacMurchy and added a second period goal by veteran Tim Verbeek.

FIRST THING'S FIRST

Of the 25 wins the Thunder has accumulated this season, 22 have come when the Thunder scores the first goal of the game. The Thunder is 22-12-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. Lance Monych leads the Thunder with seven "first goals."

CROWING OUT THE ECHL

The Thunder drew 6,889 in a Mar. 26 home game against the Victoria Salmon Kings to remain the league's leader in attendance with an average of 6,560 fans in 35 dates (229,600 total). The Thunder has 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

"When I was a player, I loved this time of year," Cichocki said. "There's pressure, but it can be a lot of fun, and we need to have fun with it and do what we have to do."

- Chris Cichocki, The Record, 3/26/08 on playing in games with playoff implications

SIR LANCE-A-LOT SETS THE PACE

Lance Monych's arrival to the Thunder roster has put him atop the team's scoring lead with 46 points (27g-19a), tied with Brandon Schwartz, and first in goal-scoring with 27 goals.

GOAL(TENDING) ORIENTED

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. Meanwhile, Thunder rookie netminder Glenn Fisher (on recall to Springfield of the AHL), a fifth round selection (148th overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, has parlayed his two best months of the season in February and March. Fisher had a season-best 2.52 goals-against-average and .933 save percentage in February and has a.908 save percentage in March.

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

The Thunder has four wins this season when trailing after two periods, including three 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

3/7 Idaho W, 3-2 Trailed 1-2 Zanoski

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

2 MADE, 2 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

3. MISSED - Lance Galbraith vs. Glenn Fisher vs. Idaho 3/7/08

4. MADE - Lance Galbraith vs. Glenn Fisher at Idaho 3/22/08

ABOUT THE SALMON KINGS

The Victoria Salmon Kings are in their fourth season of ECHL play and are in their second season under the NHL affiliate umbrella of the local Vancouver Canucks. In his first year as head coach last year, Mark Morrison guided the Salmon Kings to their first-ever Kelly Cup Playoff berth, garnering the seventh seed at a 36-32-4 clip (76 points) and pushed the defending Kelly Cup Champion Alaska Aces to a grueling, six-game series in the first round. 12 players who graced Victoria's roster last year are back, including brothers Derek and (former Colorado Avalanche forward) Jordan Krestanovich. Re-united are brothers Wes and Ash Goldie, after Victoria signed Ash as a free-agent last summer. Ash had an ECHL record six points (3g-3a) at the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game at Stockton Arena.

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