Salmon Kings claim road win over Thunder

March 24, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Stockton, CA - In a Tuesday evening matchup, the Victoria Salmon Kings and Stockton Thunder met for the first two of meetings this week in California. Goaltender Todd Ford started in net for the Salmon Kings, while the Thunder countered with Bryan Pitton.

Victoria got on the board first when Olivier Labelle burst out of the zone on a 3-on-1. Labelle charged down the right wing centered the puck to Chris St. Jacques who made the goalie commit to the shot before dishing it to Darryl Lloyd. The Kings' left winger tipped the puck up and over Pitton for the 1-0 lead. That would be the score through 20 minutes.

Stockton would even the game hen the Kings got caught on a poor line change. Cory Urquhart came down the left side and tried to feed Tyler Kindle a pass in the slot. Tim Wedderburn made a great play getting back into the play and deflected the puck into the air, but Kindle waited on it and batted it out of the air and past Ford. Victoria would retake the lead when Scott Howes came down on a 2-on-1 and looked to find Adam Taylor. Howes pass was knocked down in front of the Stockton net and sat in the crease for Dan Gendur. The Kings' rookie pushed the puck into the yawning cage for the 2-1 lead. With just four seconds to go in the period Craig Valette found a puck out in front of the Kings' net and fired it past Ford. The teams would go to the locker room knotted at 2-2 through 40 minutes.

The Salmon Kings capitalized after a brilliant play by Chris St. Jacques and Ford by blocking a Thunder rebound that looked destined for the back of the net. Off that play the Kings' Lloyd would pick up the puck and break down the right side and fire a low shot to the far post beating Pitton for the goal. Shaun Landolt was sprung on a break away with under two minutes to go. Pitton stopped Landolt first shot, but not the rebound as the Kings moved to a 4-2 lead. Patrick Coulombe added an empty net goal to round out the scoring. Salmon Kings 5 Thunder 2.

Victoria finished 0/7=0% on the power play, while Stockton ended 0/5=0%. The Thunder outshot the Salmon Kings 47-22.

The Salmon Kings continue their final road trip of the 2008-09 season with two games in Bakersfield on Wednesday and Friday. Both games began at 7:00 p.m. The Salmon Kings wrap-up their regular season back in Stockton with a game versus the Thunder on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. For information regarding Salmon Kings 2009 Kelly Cup Playoff tickets call 220-7777 or visit www.selectyourtickets.com.



ECHL Stories from March 24, 2009


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