Thunder clinches 5th straight Kelly Cup Playoff berth with Ontario loss

Published on March 12, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Back-to-back goals by Kevin Deeth and Tom May in the second were enough to help the Utah Grizzlies rally and defeat the playoff-bound Stockton Thunder (30-22-9, 69 points), 4-2, before 8,409 fans at Maverik Center on Friday night.

Despite taking the loss, the Thunder clinched its fifth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth just minutes after their game's completion, receiving help from the Las Vegas Wranglers who defeated the Ontario Reign 7-4.

The Thunder, who earned the clinch earlier than any other season - 11 days into March - now turn its efforts to home ice advantage with 11 games remaining, holding a fourth place tie in the Western Conference with Bakersfield.

"It's not the way we had in mind to get in the playoffs, but obviously one of our goals at the beginning of this year was to be a playoff team so it's satisfying to get that out of the way," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "We pushed and did a good job trying to tie the game twice with an extra skater, but I thought tonight we had lapses in momentum that didn't allow us to be consistently effective. Moving ahead, these are games that we need to find a way to win."

Ryan Constant chipped in offensively with a power-play goal and Jordan Fulton gave the Thunder a brief lead in the second period with his 12th goal of the season, answered by Matt Clarke and Paul McIlveen's goal and assist.

Another heavily penalized first period followed the series trend with 51 penalty minutes issued, including a fight at the opening faceoff just like on Wednesday, between Jesse Gimblett and Utah counterpart Ryley Grantham.

It would be Utah who capitalized first, when Paul McIlveen buried his first goal in an Utah uniform with 9:57 left in the period when he stole a pass at the right circle and blasted a slapshot past Bryan Pitton.

The Thunder stormed back with back-to-back goals to tie the game, beginning with a Constant two-man advantage goal just 2:57 into the second period. He took Dan Ringwald's feed at the high slot and ripped a one-timer past Shane Connelly.

Constant then got involved on Fulton's tying goal at 9:15 of the period, when he lined up a slap shot at the high slot which deflected off Fulton's screen at the net.

Utah responded with a pair of goals in a 42 second span, starting with Kevin Deeth's power-play goal with 8:55 left in the period. He converted off McIlveen's pass and fired a wrist shot at the left circle which snuck to the net off traffic with.

Tom May's 16th goal of the season restored the Utah lead at 3-2 for the eventual game-winner, when he collected and buried a rebound at the front of the net after Pitton denied Maxime Tanguay.

The third period featured 13 shots on goal by the Thunder on Connelly, pressing for the game-tying goal. As much as five minutes went by without a whistle, and with the final minute approaching, Shea Guthrie was whistled for a roughing penalty which gave the Thunder a 6-on-4 skating situation.

Two separate tries on Connelly were stopped on Dan Ringwald's bid from the right circle and then Constant, who fired a slapshot from the right point with traffic evolving at the crease. Connelly angled his line of sight around the bodies and snagged Constant's drive with his glove, preserving the lead with 9.7 seconds left.

After the right circle faceoff forced the puck to the left boards, Matt Clarke cleared the puck for Utah and bounced the attempt off the boards, into the empty net shortly before the clock expired for his eighth goal of the year.

Pitton took the loss, moving his record to 18-10-3 with 30 stops.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Chase Ryan (healthy), Bretton Cameron (healthy) and Cameron Brodie (healthy) ‚¬Â¦ Stockton outshot Utah, 36-34 and went 1-of-5 on the power-play ‚¬Â¦ Utah's win broke a four-game losing skid at Maverik Center to the Thunder - yet, the Thunder still claim a 6-3-0 record in the series ‚¬Â¦ Constant's goal and assist gave him four points in the last four games ‚¬Â¦ guaranteed a winning record on the road this season, the Thunder dropped to a 16-11-5 road record ‚¬Â¦ both teams combined for 85 penalty minutes in the game, but Guthrie's penalty was the only one record in the third period.

The Thunder returns for its next game tomorrow, visiting the Utah Grizzlies at Maverik Center at 6:05 p.m. The game can be heard on radio at 1280 KWSX and viewed live on the internet (pay-per-view video charge) at www.StocktonThunder.com, courtesy of AmericaOne.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 2009-10. Season Tickets, mini-plans and individual tickets for 2010-11 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/.

THREE STARS

1. UTA - 14 Tom May

2. UTA - 21 Kevin Deeth

3. UTA - 1 Shane Connelly



ECHL Stories from March 12, 2011


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