Sellout Crowd Of 9,392 Witnesses Three-Goal Thunder Rally, Fall In Shootou

Published on November 8, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Nick Mazzolini's goal in the sixth round of a shootout was enough for the Alaska Aces to stymie a three-goal rally by the Stockton Thunder (4-4-2, 10 points) in a 5-4 shootout win for the Aces in front of a standing-room-only, sellout crowd of 9,392 at Stockton Arena on Saturday night.

For the second straight game, the Thunder forced overtime when trailing the Aces after 40 minutes and erased 3-0 and 4-1 deficits with three unanswered goals, moving their unbeaten streak in regulation to 4-0-2. Jason Pitton buried the game-tying goal at 1:52 of the third period, spelling Thunder goals from Craig Valette, Chris D'Alvise and Jamie Bates.

Colin Hemingway collected a pair of goals for the Aces and Nick Tuzzolino and Alex Imbeault also scored. Alaska goaltender Scott Reid made 34 saves to take the win, stopping a wrist shot by Pitton to seal the game in the shootout.

For the two-game series that was played on a pink-dyed ice surface, the Thunder drew over 16,000 fans while the team wore pink-accented jerseys, auctioned off to the public after the game to benefit St. Joseph's Medical Center and the American Cancer Society - Stockton Field Office.

Alaska roared out of the gates to a 3-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of the game, beginning on a sharp bounce off the backboards that Colin Hemingway re-directed through goaltender Bryan Pitton's five hole to put the Aces ahead 1-0 at the 3:14 mark.

Alexandre Imbeault followed by playing a stretch pass by goaltender Scott Reid that bounced into the offensive end and followed by settling the puck and converting a wrist shot in the mid-slot at 8:33 to lift Alaska's lead to 2-0.

The Aces hiked their lead to 3-0 at 11:02 on a Nick Tuzzolino slap shot from the right point and the Thunder followed by finally getting on the board, trailing 4-1 just 3:43 later. Capitalizing on a 5-on-3 power play, Jason Pitton centered the puck to Craig Valette from behind the net, who snuck a one-timer through the five hole of Reid.

Hemingway buried his second goal of the game on a 5-on-3 shorthanded breakaway following his steal of an Oren Eizenman pass at the Alaska blueline to hike the lead to 4-1, converting a backhanded deke that beat Pitton through the five-hole with 3:44 into the second period.

The Thunder roared back with two goals in the period to cut the Aces lead to 4-3, beginning with Chris D'Alvise's sixth goal of the year with 7:26 left in the period on the power-play, taking Eizenman's centering pass from behind the net and burying a one-timer behind Reid.

Bates' power-play goal with 1:16 left in the period shaved the deficit to a goal when he followed up a bouncing puck at the left goal line and parked a backhander off Reid's right arm.

Pitton leveled the score at 4-4 just 1:52 into the final period to complete the three-goal rally, taking Colin Power's cross-ice pass at the left circle and roofing a wrist shot under the crossbar.

The Thunder had chances to roar ahead with the go-ahead goal but their best scoring chance of the period was denied by Reid's kick save, when he stopped a Judd Blackwater wrist shot in the slot after he stole an errant Alaska outlet pass.

Bryan Pitton, who stopped the final 21 of 22 shots he saw in regulation and overtime, regained his form to stop all five Alaska shots in the extra session, including a power-play for the final two minutes of the period after Craig Valette was whistled for a five-minute charging major penalty on Stefanishion.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Matt O'Dette (injured reserve), Mike Bayrack (injured reserve), Luis Tremblay (healthy) and Kelly Czuy (injured reserve)... the Thunder record, lifetime in the "Thunder Goes Pink" series moved to 5-1-2... the Thunder outshot Alaska, 38-33 and went 3-for-9 on the power-play... the sellout crowd was the 14th in Thunder history.

The Thunder returns to play for a 7:00 p.m. road game on Tuesday, Nov. 10 against the Bakersfield Condors at Rabobank Arena. The game can be heard on radio at 1420 KSTN and viewed online at www.stocktonthunder.com, courtesy of B2 Networks (audio is free of charge).

The Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew 223,854 fans to Stockton Arena in 2008-09. Season Tickets for 2009-10 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

-- ALL OUT, ALL SEASON --

THREE STARS:

1. AK - 42 Nick Mazzolini

2. AK - 10 Colin Hemingway

3. STK - 17 Jason Pitton

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ECHL Stories from November 8, 2009


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