
Playoff clinch put on hold for one night, Reber nets lone Thunder goal)
March 10, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Prospect Mitch Wahl scored one goal and added two assists to help the Utah Grizzlies defeat the Stockton Thunder (30-26-5, 65 points), 4-1, before 5,515 fans at Maverik Center on Friday night.
The Thunder earned a tie for a Kelly Cup Playoff berth after Bakersfield lost in a shootout, 2-1 at Idaho. The Thunder can seize an outright clinch tomorrow if they win, lose in overtime or in a shootout or if Bakersfield loses.
Matt Reber had the only Thunder goal, scoring in his return to Maverik Center for the first time since he left Utah via a trade in January. Andrew Engelage earned the win with 30 saves.
"We didn't have our legs tonight, but we did an equal amount of poor things when we did make a good play," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "I thought it was a slow game for the first 40 minutes and we had an opportunity to take over by keeping things simple. Hopefully with a better effort and better focus, we'll see more out of everybody tomorrow."
Utah went up 1-0 on Ross Carlson's second goal of the year with 7:55 left when he capitalized off a broken play and stashed a wrist shot under the crossbar from the left circle.
Reber retaliated to tie the game, 1-1 at the 8:37 mark of the second period. He corralled Gabriel Levesque's saucer pass at the right wing, raced behind the Utah defense and beat Engelage with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Following a Thunder turnover at center ice, Wahl restored the Utah lead at 2-1 with 5:40 left in the period when he buried a rebound at the left post, following Thomas Heemskerk's stop on Kory Falite from the slot.
Utah entered the game at a 2-of-35 skid on the power play but came to life with back to back man advantage goals in the third period, extending their lead to 3-1 on Colin Vock's fluke deflection at the goal mouth with 12:22 remaining.
Following a boarding penalty to Cameron Brodie, a slapshot by Ryan Turek from the high slot lifted the Grizzlies to a 4-1 advantage with 5:12 left in regulation.
Heemskerk took the loss with 33 saves.
ECHL Stories from March 10, 2012
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- Aces Come Back for 3-1 Win Over Eagles. - Alaska Aces
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- Reign Lose to Wranglers 2-1 in a Shootout - Ontario Reign
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- Playoff clinch put on hold for one night, Reber nets lone Thunder goal) - Stockton Thunder
- Idaho Outlasts Bakersfield in a Shootout - Idaho Steelheads
- Grizzlies Beat Stockton 4-1: Win Second-Straight - Utah Grizzlies
- Condors Take One Point in a 2-1 Shootout Loss to Idaho - Bakersfield Condors
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.
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