Salmon Kings snipers solve Stockton

February 17, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Victoria, BC - The Victoria Salmon Kings, proud affiliate of the Manitoba Moose and the Vancouver Canucks, rolled off a shutout victory from Wednesday to face the Stockton Thunder in game two of the series in front of 3,869 fans at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. The Thunder rumbled back in the third period but could not recover from the deficit as Victoria dazed Netminder Devan Dubnyk for the 6-3 win.

Stockton struck first as Troy Bodie was spotted open in the slot and beat Goaltender Julien Ellis at 11:12 into the first period. Under one minute later, Victoria answered as Defenseman Paul Ballantyne smacked the puck from the right corner and it squeezed through Dubnyk's five-hole.

Just 13 seconds later, Salmon Kings Centre F.P. Guenette won the faceoff on the left circle of the Stockton zone and Defenseman Gustav Engman tallied his third goal of the season with a slapshot through traffic from the left point for a Victoria 2-1 lead.

At 10:10 into the middle frame, Ballantyne poked the puck ahead to Marc-Andre Bernier and he leapt into a 2-on-1 with Guenette. Dubnyk got a piece of Bernier's shot from the left circle, but it bounced over the line for a Victoria 3-1 lead.

Victoria continued scoring in the third period and capitalized twice on the powerplay. At 2:16 into the period, in a 5-on-3 man advantage, Wes Goldie notched his 30th goal of the season from the left of the net. He snapped a rebound which bounced up and over the shoulder of Dubnyk and gave the Salmon Kings their fourth unanswered goal. In the ensuing 5-on-4 powerplay, 17 seconds later, Milan Gajic carried the puck into the left slot and led Guenette to the net with a backhand pass, and Guenette pulled the puck to his backhand for his tenth goal of the season.

Stockton stopped the streak and tallied two goals to close the gap. At 7:01 into the third, Mike Lalonde, who returned to the Stockton lineup tonight, earned his 22nd goal of the season to quiet the crowd. Thunder Centre Jim Dahl turned the score to 5-3 for Victoria as he picked up a rebound and scooped the bouncing puck past Ellis for his sixth goal of the season.

With 1:16 remaining in the game, Captain Kiel McLeod snuck an empty-net goal from the Salmon Kings blueline to deflate the Thunder pressure.

Final: 6-3 Salmon Kings

Ellis nabbed his 13th win of the season, and Dubnyk was marked with his seventh loss. Victoria was 2 for 5 on the powerplay and Stockton was held scoreless on the powerplay for the second consecutive game (0 for 7). Stockton outshot the Salmon Kings 43-37. The Salmon Kings (22-29-0-1) wrap up the three-game series versus the Thunder (21-15-4-5) tomorrow starting at 7:05 p.m.

Notes:

- Wes Goldie earned his 250th ECHL point.

- Julien Ellis made 40 saves for a 0.930 save percentage; he averages a 0.948 save percentage since his return to the Salmon Kings (4 games).

- Thunder Goaltender Cam Ellsworth relieved Dubnyk after Guenette's third period goal and made eight saves before Dubnyk's return from an equipment problem.

Individual game tickets for the 2006-07 regular season can be purchased at the Select Your Tickets Box Office at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, flex packs, and other great ticket deals are available by calling (250) 220-2614.

Pick any 3 games or 3 tickets to one game for only $43!



ECHL Stories from February 17, 2007


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