Las Vegas wins over Stockton

Published on April 5, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


LAS VEGAS - Mick Lawrence and rookie Scott McCulloch scored a pair of goals to help the Las Vegas Wranglers defeat the Stockton Thunder (32-33-7, 71 points) 5-3 in the 2008-09 regular season finale, before 6,564 fans at Orleans Arena on Saturday.

Earning a Kelly Cup Playoff berth for the third straight year, the Thunder secured the fourth seed in the National Conference and will face the first seed and Pacific Division Champion Ontario Reign in a best-of-seven series (2-3-2 format), beginning with game 1 of the Pacific Division Semifinal round on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. from Citizens Business Bank Arena. The complete head-to-head schedule between Stockton and Ontario will be announced on Sunday.

Rookie Brandon Naurato scored the first goal of his pro career for Stockton, spelling goals from teammates Craig Valette and David Rohlfs. The Thunder finished the season series with a 3-3-0 split against Las Vegas.

Las Vegas poured in four goals in the first 20 minutes of the contest, starting with McCulloch's fourth goal of the season at 2:06 and followed by Mick Lawrence's wrap-around with 5:24 gone, putting a backhander past Pitton's glove side to put the Wranglers ahead 2-0.

McCulloch stuffed another wraparound past Pitton with 7:26 left in the period for his second of the game to hike the Wranglers lead to 3-0 and the Wranglers continued their rally. On a turnover at the Thunder blueline, Las Vegas' Adam Miller stole the puck and fed Dan Riedel at the right circle, who beat Pitton with a one-timer with 4:15 left in the opening frame for his 23rd goal of the year.

Valette finally got the Thunder on the board with 3:52 gone in the second period, when he scored on a 2-on-1 rush from the right wing with a snap shot that beat goaltender Glenn Fisher to the blocker side.

The Thunder engaged in a third period rally beginning with Naurato's first marker of his career with 4:54 elapsed, taking Mike Lalonde's rinkwide pass at the left circle and beating Fisher with a forehand shot over the blocker side, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

Brett Tyler's point shot caught a piece of Mick Lawrence in front of the net for a Las Vegas power-play goal with 6:27 gone in the period, lifting the Wranglers lead to 5-2. Thunder forward David Rohlfs cut the Las Vegas edge to 5-3 with his seventh goal of the season, beating Fisher with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Las Vegas killed off Stockton's attempt at an empty-net, 6-on-5 skating situation late in the game to seal the regular season-ending victory.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Marc-Andre Bernier (injured reserve), Jordan Bendfeld (injured reserve), Sebastien Bisaillon (injury, day-to-day) and Ryan MacMurchy (injured reserve) ... Naurato added an assist on Rohlfs' goal for his first multi-point game as a professional ... Stockton finished the regular season with a winning road record of 16-15-5 ... Lalonde netted a pair of assists for Stockton, who ended the regular season with six points (1g-5a) in the final five games ... the Thunder fell to 0-9-1 in the last 10 regular season contests at Orleans Arena, dating back to 2005-06 ... Thunder rookie Ryan Huddy set Thunder single season records in goals (35) and points (73) ... rookie Garet Hunt broke Adam Huxley's single-season record with 248 penalty minutes.

The Thunder meet the Ontario Reign for game 1 of the Kelly Cup Playoffs (Pacific Division Semifinal round) starting Friday, April 10, beginning at 7:00 p.m. from Citizens Business Bank Arena. The game is available on radio at 1420 KSTN and online for viewing online (audio is free-of-charge) for a $7 charge at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/ (courtesy of B2 Networks).

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