Pepperall collects three points in Thunder debut, Verbeek scores winner

March 10, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Newly acquired center Colin Pepperall collected a goal and two assists in his Thunder debut, and right-winger Tim Verbeek scored the game-winning goal in the shoot-out to lead Stockton (26-21-10, 62 pts) to a 5-4 win over the Victoria Salmon Kings before 6,045 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night. The Thunder maintains sole possession of sixth place in the National Conference with the victory.

The Salmon Kings opened the scoring at the 5:37 mark of the first period as center Kiel McLeod scored his 26th goal of the season, the beneficiary of a loose puck to the left of Thunder goaltender Devan Dubnyk off a shot from left-winger Mike Stutzel. The rebound bounced directly onto McLeod's stick, and he proceeded to beat Dubnyk with a back-hand stick-side to lift Victoria to a 1-0 lead on the power-play.

The Thunder responded less than two minutes later as right-winger Mathieu Melanson capped an end-to-end rush with a tape-to-tape feed to left-winger Brock Radunske skating directly towards the Victoria goal. Radunske, left-un-marked in front of Salmon Kings goaltender Julien Ellis, re-directed the Melanson feed top-corner glove-side to level the score at 1-1 at the 7:27 mark. The goal was Radunske's 3rd of the season.

Melanson proceeded to score the go-ahead goal at the 11:24 mark, the beneficiary of a perfect feed in the slot from Pepperall. Fighting off multiple Salmon King defenders in front of the Victoria goal, Pepperall managed to slide the puck to a wide-open Melanson who blasted a one-timer past Ellis to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead.

Melanson's tally was his 11th on the season. The Salmon Kings responded with the equalizer at 16:34 on the power-play as center F.P. Guenette connected with a streaking Milan Gajic from behind the Thunder goal. Gajic beat Dubnyk with a one-time shot glove-side to tie the score at 2-2. Gajic's goal was his 16th on the season.

Thunder defenseman Beau Geisler's 7th goal of the season gave Stockton a 3-2 lead at the 5:44 mark of the second period on the power-play. Geisler's point shot found its way through a myriad of players in front of Ellis, beating the Victoria goaltender low to the stick-side. The Salmon Kings rallied to level the score at 3-3 capitalizing on their ensuing man advantage as Guenette fed an un-marked Wes Goldie from behind the Thunder goal.

Goldie would beat Dubnyk from the slot with a wrist shot glove-side to record his 33rd goal of the season at 7:20. Dubnyk proceeded to preserve the tie with a sprawling cross-crease stop on a deflection attempt by Guenette, and a penalty shot save on Goldie with just under four minutes remaining in the period. The Thunder recorded 27 shots in the second frame, a new team record for most shots in a period.

Pepperall collected his first goal in a Thunder uniform at the 5:17 mark of third period sliding a Radunske pass from behind the Victoria goal past Ellis from just above the goal crease to give Stockton a 4-3 lead. Victoria responded with the equalizer 63 seconds later as the Salmon Kings capitalized on a turn-over in the Thunder zone. Gajic, positioned to the right of Dubnyk behind the Stockton goal line, fed a streaking Stutzel who beat the Thunder netminder with a one-timer from 40-feet out to tie the score at 4-4. The goal was Stutzel's 12th of the season.

Verbeek notched the lone goal in the shoot-out, beating Ellis with a wrist-shot stick-side to secure the victory for the Thunder.

The Thunder continues its eight-game homestand with the final game of the season series with Victoria on Saturday, March 10, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. The game can be heard live on the internet (free-of-charge) and is available for viewing at a $6 "pay-per-view" charge at www.stocktonthunder.com (courtesy of B2 Networks).

Recently named host of the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game, the Thunder drew 228,364 fans to Stockton Arena in its inaugural season, the ECHL's best attendance mark for 2005-06. Thunder season tickets, mini-plans, group tickets and individual tickets for the 2006-07 season are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonthunder.com.



ECHL Stories from March 10, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central