PrairieThunder game notes
Published on November 22, 2008 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON (Ill.) - Smarting from its first shutout loss of the season Friday in Kalamazoo, the Bloomington PrairieThunder trys to turn things around Saturday with a 6 p.m. skate at Muskegon against the Lumberjacks at L.C. Walker Arena in International Hockey League play.
Muskegon begins play as the league leader with an 8-3-1-0 record and 17 points after claiming a wild 8-7 victory over Flint at home on Friday. The win was the fifth without a loss for the Lumberjacks at home this year.
The PrairieThunder (5-7-0-0) will be attempting to bounce back from a 5-0 loss at Kalamazoo to see its road record dip to 1-3. Bloomington has dropped five of its last six games after starting the season 4-2. The lone victory in the current skid was a 6-4 triumph against the Lumberjacks one week ago in Bloomington.
The teams have split two games in the season series with Muskegon claiming a 5-2 win earlier in the year at Bloomington.
The PrairieThunder is hoping its success in Saturday games continue against the Lumberjacks as it has posted a 4-1 mark this season on Satutday.
Bloomington put up a season-high 45 shots in its loss Friday, including 10 power play opportunities. In its last five losses, the PrairieThunder has been outscored, 25-9.
Muskegon is led by the league's leading scorer in Todd Robinson with 24 points. The Lumberjacks scored 13 points and allowed as many in its last two games - a 6-5 overtime loss at Flint and the 8-7 win over the Generals on Friday.
The Lumberjacks lead the league in scoring with 157 points with league-highs of 60 goals and 97 assists.
Both teams have struggled with the penalty kill. Bloomington has allowed 16 power play goals (77.5 kill percentage), while Muskegon has given up 14 for a 77.4 percentage kill rate. Bloomington has been successful on just 13.6 percent of its power play opportunities, while Muskegon has a 22 percent success rate.
Goaltending also has been a problem for both teams, although Muskegon's Isaac Reichmuth tops the IHL with eight victories and only two losses in 11 games despite a 4.44 goals against average and a .859 save percentage. Reichmuth is 1-0 against Bloomington.
Bloomington goalie Scott Fankhouser is 1-1 against the Lumberjacks. Overall, the veteran has struggled in the early going with a 4.57 goals against and .857 save percentage for a 4-5 record.
Slapshots, etc.
Bloomington's Don Parsons needs just seven goals to become the all-time leader in career goals scored in professional minor league hockey. Parsons moved into second-place on the all-time list with 672 in16 years. Former Flint coach Kevin Kerr is the all-time leader with 677.
Parsons has averaged 41 goals per season during his career. The Boston native also ranks 16th in all-time points scored at 1,292 (an average of just under 80 per season) and needs 18 to move into 15th spot. His goals and points scored are first among active players.
Parsons is 47th in all-time assists with 620 and is closing in on the 1,000th career games played mark. He broke into the all-time top 100 recently, ranking 96th with 968 games played. Both of those marks are second among active players.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from November 22, 2008
- K-Wings Win Fifth Straight in Dramatic 3-2 Overtime Finish - Kalamazoo Wings
- Icehawks Score Four Unanswered Goals To Beat Generals 4-1 - Port Huron Icehawks
- PrairieThunder lose 9-5 - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Port Huron beats Generals 4-1 - Flint Generals
- Toys for Tots recognizes PrairieThunder - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- PrairieThunder game notes - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Countdown to Face-Off - Kalamazoo Wings
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