Perugini earns first shutout of professional career with 38-save effort

Published on January 29, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


VICTORIA, British Columbia - 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 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).

With the Thunder icing just four defenseman due to injuries (Cleve Kinley and Mark Adamek) and a suspension (Ryan Constant), center and second-round draftee Geoff Paukovich buried his first ECHL goal of the season with 9:25 remaining in the first, taking Igor Gongalsky's centering pass and drilling a one-timer through goaltender Julien Ellis' five-hole for a 1-0 Thunder lead.

Perugini kept Victoria blanked with nine saves in the first period and followed up with 17 stops in the second period. His highlight save was a Wes Goldie one-timer in the first period from the slot that glanced off Perugini's right shoulder.

Lalonde lifted the Thunder to a 2-0 lead just 52 seconds into the third period, when the Thunder pounced on a turnover for his 13th goal of the season. Lalonde took Damian Surma's left circle feed in front of the net and redirected the puck over the shoulder of Ellis.

Victoria was forced to gamble the rest of the game and nearly got on the board with Wes Goldie taking an outlet for a shorthanded breakaway. His snap shot from the slot rang off the goal post and the Thunder buried Victoria's efforts the rest of the game by keeping the puck along the boards.

The win for Perugini, who had previous six whitewash efforts in junior hockey with Sarnia and Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League, was his fourth straight win to improve to an 8-6-2 record.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Marc-Andre Bernier (injured reserve), Ryan MacMurchy (injured reserve), Jordan Bendfeld (injured reserve), Cleve Kinley (injured reserve), Mark Adamek (injured reserve) and Ryan Constant (suspension) ... the Thunder finished the head-to-head series in Victoria with a 3-2-0 record and improved to 4-5-0 in the season series ... Victoria's Dan Gendur missed the game due to league suspension following a match penalty in Tuesday night's game for slashing.

The Thunder returns to play at home on Saturday, January 31 against the Phoenix RoadRunners at 7:30 p.m. from Stockton Arena. The game is available exclusively online (audio is free-of-charge) for viewing for a $7 charge at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/ (courtesy of B2 Networks).

The proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons, the Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for three consecutive seasons and drew 239,337 fans to Stockton Arena in 2007-08. Season, group, individual tickets and mini plan packages are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

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ECHL Stories from January 29, 2009


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