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Thunder Beat Ontario for Weekend Sweep

April 6, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Stockton Thunder (32-30-1-6) made it a clean sweep of the weekend with a 4-2 win against the Ontario Reign (43-19-3-4), for their third straight victory. The two teams meet up once again in Ontario on Wednesday for their final regular season meeting.

The Thunder got multi-point efforts from Jeremy Langlois and Andrew Clark as they built a four-goal lead before hanging on for the win. Three players scored their first goals in a Thunder uniform. Parker Milner got the start between the pipes and picked up his 8th win of the season for the Thunder.

It was Stockton's fifth win against Ontario on the Reign's home ice and it comes after the Thunder's streak of four straight wins was snapped on their last visit on March 29. The Thunder have claimed at least a point from seven of their eight games in southern California.

The game got off to a fast start as their were two fights in the first 15 seconds. Captain Garet Hunt dropped the gloves with Jeremy Yablonski right off the opening face-off. That fight was followed by Scott Langdon's first scrap as a Thunder player, as he mixed it up with Mike Towns.

The Thunder scored the opening goal 3:35 into the first. Clark knocked the puck away from Ontario's Cody Sol in the defensive zone, triggering a two-on-one. He passed to Langlois in the high slot and the forward tucked a shot underneath the pad of J.P. Anderson for the 1-0 lead. It was Langlois' 17th goal of the season and first for Stockton.

After 55 seconds, the lead was 2-0. Matt Mangene looked to center in front for Corey Trivino, only for the pass to bounce off a defenseman's skate and into the net. Trivino and Adam Brace picked up the assists. With 2:43 left in the period Joey Diamond one-timed a pass from James Henry in for the 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Mangene and Diamond's goals were their first since being sent down from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The second period was filled with penalties. The Thunder capitalized on a power play with defenseman Ryan Constant blasting home off a feed from Langlois. It was the 8th goal of the season for the alternate captain and his first in his third game back from an injury.

Matt White gave the Ontario fans something to cheer about with a shorthanded goal at the 14:44 mark. White drove into the zone one-on-one with Trivino. He deked to his backhand and squeezed his shot inside the far post. It was White's team-leading 22nd of the year to make the score 4-1.

The Thunder held on against a barrage of shots in the third period. The Reign fired 17 shots against Milner in the frame. Ontario finally got another one on the board with 6:48 to play. Sacha Guimond fired a shot from the left point that was deflected by Lane Scheidl. Milner got a piece of it, but it rolled behind him and into the net before he could cover up. That was as close as they would get with the Thunder hanging on for the 4-2 final.

The Thunder have one more home game remaining on the schedule. They finish off the regular season on Saturday, April 12, against the Las Vegas Wranglers. The first 1,500 fans at Stockton Arena will receive a free Thunder rally towel. It is also the Thunder's "Group Appreciation Night" with discounted tickets available for any group who had a night out a Thunder game this season. For more information, visit StocktonThunder.com.

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