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Thunder Cap off Road Games in Madison

April 8, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


Bloomington Thunder in Action
Bloomington Thunder in Action
(Bloomington Thunder)

MADISON, Wisconsin - The Bloomington Thunder will spend their last away game of the season in Madison to take on the Capitols. This is the fourth matchup between the Thunder and Capitols this season, and second within two weeks. The Thunder are hoping to make their record 4 for 4 against the Capitols as the outcome of this game will help determine their seed in the playoffs. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

All Eastern Conference playoff teams have two games remaining in the regular season. Bloomington is tied for third with Dubuque, with the potential to have home ice advantage with a weekend sweep. The Thunder have won 12 of their last 13 and are currently the hottest team in the league, ranked third in the power rankings behind Cedar Rapids and Green Bay. The Lincoln Stars will host the Gamblers for two games this weekend while Cedar Rapids and Dubuque each split with Waterloo and Sioux City.

Listen live to all Thunder games this season by going to portal.stretchinternet.com/wjbc/. Tonight's broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. for pregame coverage. Games will also be broadcast with live video on FastHockey.com. Don't forget to check out the Thunder's Twitter account, @BLMThunder, for updates during the game with our hashtag #BLMvsMAD.

Bloomington heads into their final away game of the season on a five-game winning streak.

Last Friday Bloomington defeated the Chicago Steel in a 1-0 game, their seventh shutout of the season. After a scoreless first period, Vlad Dzhioshvili (Cornell University) helped set up Ethan Somoza (Bemidji State University) to score for Bloomington in the second. That goal marked Somoza's fourth of the year, his 11th point with the Thunder. The team has been impressive on the road, going undefeated one goal games this year away from home ice. Of the Thunder's 29 away games, nearly half have been decided by one goal, totaling to 14 games.

This night also marked the tenth win for Logan Halladay (Merrimack College) for the second season. With 30 saves, and four big penalty kills, Halladay earned his third shutout in his sophomore year of play. The 6'1" goaltender is now tied for third in shutouts in the United States Hockey League. Bloomington is the hottest team in the league on the road, going 20-9-0-0 in away games this season.

In their last match up, Bloomington defeated Madison 5-1 at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Logan Lambdin (Michigan State University) scored in the first to start off the night. He was answered quickly by Madison's Dmitri Buinitsky in the beginning second period, scoring the only goal for the Capitols. Lambdin added his second goal in the second period, before three more goals in the third to win the game for the Thunder, one from Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) and two from Patrick Curry (Boston University).

After some deadline deal changes, the Caps are without some of their top scoring talent from this season. Marcel Godbout is their leading scorer with 34 points after coming over in a trade from the Chicago Steel. One constant has been goaltender Ryan Edquist (University of Minnesota) in his first USHL season. The goaltender has a 3.02 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. Alexandre Payusov (University of Connecticut) was the only Capitol to score in their last game against Muskegon, his 16th goal of the year, as Madison has fallen in their last three games and scored just three times in those games.

NEXT HOME GAME: Saturday, April 9th - 7 p.m. - Fan appreciation night features many benefits for the Bloomington Thunder fans. Come out to the game against the Chicago Steel and grab prizes and giveaways handed out all night. One lucky season ticketholder will also win two free season tickets for the upcoming 2016-17 season. From 6-7 there will be buy one get one free hot dogs available at the game and kids 12 & under get a free hot dog when they enter the building. The first 1000 fans also get a free poster of the Thunder's college bound players. Don't forget to take part in a post-game jersey's off our back auction immediately following the game along with the final post-game skate with the Thunder. For tickets and information please call the Thunder office at (309) 434-2980.




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Bloomington Thunder in Action
Bloomington Thunder in Action
   



United States Hockey League Stories from April 8, 2016


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