Prairiethunder End Winless Skid

Published on January 18, 2010 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


ROCHESTER, MI--- The Bloomington PrairieThunder snapped their nine-game winless skid Sunday, earning a 6-2 victory over the Flint Generals. Bloomington's top two scorers registered three points each in the win, with forward Craig Macdonald scoring two goals, including the game-winning tally, and one assist while center Jon Booras dished out three assists. The PrairieThunder had not won in regulation since their 6-0 win over Quad City on December 26th. During the nine- game skid, they had only collected three points, losing one game in overtime and two in a shootout.

The Lumberjacks have been lighting up the scoring column as of late, having two eight-goal games within a seven day period. Yesterday, the 'Jacks stormed out to an 8-4 win over the Icehawks in Port Huron while last Sunday they dominated the Flint Generals with an 8-0 victory on home ice. Muskegon rookie left wing Matt Robertson scored his first professional hat trick in the contest last night, scoring three even-strength tallies against the Icehawks. The eight-goal outputs are the second highest for the 'Jacks this season after they scored nine goals in their second game of the season back on October 17th against Bloomington.

Port Huron saw their league-high 11 game home win streak snapped Sunday in the 8-4 loss to Muskegon. The Icehawks streak ran from November 15th thru January 15th , which also saw two shutouts by Port Huron. Their last loss on home ice also came at the hands of the Lumberjacks back on November 11th when they fell to Muskegon in a 5-3 contest.

The Fort Wayne Komets have been a steady force in the standings as of late, remaining in third place for the eighth straight week. The Komets have gone on an 8-0-0-1 tear in their last nine games, with goaltender Tim Haun recording back-to-back shutouts during that span. They have not lost in regulation since December 29th , when they fell to Dayton 6-4. Fort Wayne sits just five points behind second place Port Huron and seven points behind Muskegon, who are in first place. The last time the Komets fell below third place was when they began Week Six in fourth place.

AROUND THE 'I'

Bloomington PrairieThunder (1-1-0-1)- The PrairieThunder snapped a nine-game winless streak, which matched the longest in franchise history with a 6-2 victory over Flint on Sunday. It also broke a season-high four game home winless streak. During its winless streak, the PrairieThunder outshot the opponent six times and matched them in shots in one game, scoring 25 goals while yielding 38. Defenseman Jason Lepine has recorded an assist in six straight games and eight of nine. Jamie Carroll broke out of a seven-game scoring drought with two goals and two assists at Dayton on Wednesday. After scoring only 10 goals in the first seven games for an average of 1.7 per game during its winless streak, the PrairieThunder scored 15 goals in three games last week for an average of 5.0 per game.

Flint Generals (1-2-0-0)- The Generals four game shutout slump was snapped Saturday night against Quad City. Jake Pence ended the 261:17 minutes of scoreless play for the Generals and started them on their way to a 6-4 victory. Nolan's 0-2-0-0 weekend and rough outing yesterday drops him to 4th in GAA but he remains 2nd in save percentage. Flint had 136 PIM in Sunday's (Jan. 17th) game against Bloomington, the most by a team in a single game this season. Ben Boudreau's 5 minors in Sunday's game are the most in a single game by a player this season. Pascal Rheaume is 10 points shy of reaching 600 total career points (regular season and post season combined). Tony Tuzzolino needs 6 points to reach career number 400 (combined regular and post season).

Fort Wayne Komets (3-0-0-0)- Winger Matt Syroczynski, back from a stint with the AHL's Norfolk Admirals, made his return to the Komet fold appearing in all three games of the week and made it count with two goals and three assists for a five-point week. Goalie Tim Haun won both games he appeared in to reach 15 wins on the season, matching his personal best of 15 wins in a season with Huntsville of the SPHL during 2008-09. Haun also put two shutouts together for the first time in his career when he stopped all 38 Flint shots Friday night in Fort Wayne for a 3-0 win after stoning the Gems at Dayton the previous Sunday 3-0 on 30 saves. P.C. Drouin (LW) is riding a six-game point streak (5 g, 5 a) and four game goal-scoring streak (5 g). Konstantin Shafranov (LW) has a five-game point-scoring streak (3 g, 4 a).

Muskegon Lumberjacks (3-0-0-0)- The Lumberjacks are 6-1-0-0 in their last seven games and 22-6-0-3 in their last 32 efforts. In the 8-4 triumph Sunday at Port Huron, Brian Bicek equaled the league's season best with a career high five points (1 g, 4 a). In his last two games, newcomer Michel Beausoleil has delivered three goals and one assist for four points. Center Damian Surma has scored 12 points (5 g, 7 a) in his last eight games and seven points (4 g, 3 a) in his last four starts. The IHL's second top scorer Todd Robinson is presently on a six-game point streak with two goals and eight assists in that span. With their 3-2 come-from-behind victory Saturday night over Dayton, the 'Jacks posted their league- high fourth third period comeback win this season.

Port Huron Icehawks (1-1-0-0)- McMorran Arena fans were treated to two offensive explosions this weekend, as the Icehawks and their competitors combined for 21 goals in two nights of hockey. Brandon Naurato kicked off five unanswered goals Friday to push the Icehawks past the Gems after falling behind 3-1 in the first period. The Icehawks offense was aggressive all weekend, outshooting their opponents in each game. Port Huron has had at least ten shots on goal in each of the last seven periods. The team has scored four goals or more 16 times this season, and they lead the IHL in average goals per game at 3.54. Daniel Tetrault is poised to reach at least one career milestone this week. The defenseman is just one game shy of 600 in his pro career and four goals shy of 100.

Quad City Mallards (0-2-0-1)- The Mallards have suffered back-to-back losses after going unbeaten in regulation in their prior eight games (6-0-0-2). Last Saturday's loss to Flint at the i wireless Center also ended the Mallards' five game home winning streak. The defeat was the Mallards' first on home ice since a 4-2 setback at the hands of Muskegon on Decem- ber 22nd . Matt Cook scored his first goal as a Mallard last Saturday against Flint, one night after making his Quad City debut. Goaltenders Jerad Kauffman (3-0-0-1) and Kyle Jones (3-0-0-1) both had four game regulation unbeaten streaks stopped over the weekend. Kauffman's run halted yesterday despite a 37-save effort from the rookie netminder against Fort Wayne. Jones was in goal for last Saturday's loss to Flint.

Dayton Gems (1-2-0-0)- The Gems had an action packed home game at Hara on Wednesday, defeating the Bloomington PrairieThunder in a shootout 8-7. Defensemen Nathan Oke and Preston Briggs are tied for first among IHL defensemen in shorthanded assists. Rookie Corey Couturier is second among IHL scorers in shooting percentage with.195 in eight games played. Gems goalie Ryan Mior returned from the Rochester Americans last Sunday and started his first game Wednesday for Dayton since December 19th. He earned the victory over the PrairieThunder and dropped his second start Friday 6-3 in Port Huron. Dayton continues to be the least penalized teams in the IHL with an average of 15 PIM's per game. The Gems also have the second best power play on the road with 20.5%.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 18, 2010


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