Thunder Bounce Back with OT Win
January 24, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON - The Bloomington Thunder gave up a late tying goal but earned a 3-2 overtime win over the Fayetteville FireAntz on Friday night at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
The FireAntz scored the game's first tally on an unassisted goal by Matt Smyth only 51 seconds in. The Thunder evened the contest with 6:14 left in the first period when a Kyle Watson pass to the slot bounced off Paul D'Agostino but was picked up in stride by Nic Polaski in the left circle for his first goal of the season.
The Thunder grabbed a 2-1 lead on a power play with 6:27 remaining before the second intermission on a blast from the left point by Travis Granbois on assists from Jason Pietrasiak and Peter Cintala.
Fayetteville knotted the score with 3:36 remaining in regulation when Nick Craven blasted a centering pass in the slot from assists by Chris Greene and Kyle McNeil.
The Thunder picked up the second point at 2:28 of overtime when Kyle Watson earned his third game-winner of the season on a putback of a Peter Cintala wraparound also assisted by Polaski.
Max Strang stopped 43 shots in his first game back after his call-up to the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. Peter Skoggard took the loss with 37 saves. The Thunder were 1-of-4 on the power play while the FireAntz were 0-for-5. The Thunder improve to 14-19-1 and 4-2-0 against Fayetteville but remain in tenth place in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings. The FireAntz fall to 14-15-3.
Before the game, the Thunder traded forward Ron Cramer to the Louisiana Ice Gators for forward Reid MacLeod. Cramer scored five goals with nine assists for 14 points and a league-leading 160 penalty minutes in 30 games, while MacLeod registered two goals and six assists for eight points and 13 penalty minutes in 17 games with the Gators. The Thunder also waived forward Patrick Schafer, who collected two goals and six assists for eight points with 24 PIMs in 18 games.
The Thunder are off until next Friday and Saturday for a pair of games in Pensacola, Florida against the Ice Flyers. Fans are invited to watch all road games at Six Strings, 524 N. Center St. in downtown Bloomington. Broadcast links to the WJBC audio feed and the America One Sports subscription video are at www.bloomingtonthunder.com. The latest team information can also be found there as well as on Facebook and Twitter (BLMThunder). New multi-game plans have been announced with more information online and by calling 309-434-2980. The Thunder return home for a Tuesday, February 4 matchup against the Peoria Rivermen with a 7:05 p.m. face-off.
SPHL Stories from January 24, 2014
- We'll Take Some "Morra" That - Peoria Rivermen
- IceGators hold on, beat RiverKings 5-4 - Louisiana IceGators
- First Period Deficit Dooms RiverKings in Lafayette - Mississippi RiverKings
- Ice Flyers Score Four in the First, Beat Surge 6-1 - Pensacola Ice Flyers
- Thunder Bounce Back with OT Win - Bloomington Thunder
- Friday's Start Time Pushed Back to 7:30 p.m. - Peoria Rivermen
- Surge Halt RiverKings' Streak at Three - Mississippi RiverKings
- Ice Bears Fall to Havoc at Home - Knoxville Ice Bears
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