Thunder completes run of three wins in three days

Published on February 19, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Center Chris D'Alvise broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with a highlight reel goal and goaltender Olivier Roy made 32 saves to lift the Stockton Thunder (26-21-5, 57 points) to a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Eagles before 5,545 fans at Stockton Arena on Sunday.

The Thunder extended its torrid pace at home to a 9-1-1 run in the last 11 games and benefited from additional goals by Matt Foy - who put up a spectacular goal of his own in the second period - and an empty netter by Kevin Baker.

Stockton also closed the gap to four points behind Colorado for fourth place in the Western Conference.

"Big win for us and we needed it," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "Typical Sunday game - it was a bit loose for both teams and Sunday games have either low shot counts with not a lot of opportunities or there are shots aplenty. I thought both goaltenders were good in the first period. We got better as the game went along and credit our penalty kill. We had a great adjustment after their first goal."

Colorado came into the game averaging 3.6 goals per game and was held to a 1-of-6 clip on the power play.

However, they took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a Kevin Ulanski power play goal, when he capitalized off a screen in front of Roy and tipped Aaron Schneekloth's shot from the blueline.

The Thunder owned the edge in shots at 15-11 but were saddled with three penalty kill situations in the first period.

Foy's 14th goal of the season came on a highlight reel move with 12:39 remaining in the second for a shorthanded goal to help the Thunder tie the game, 1-1.

Foy caught up with a clearing pass at center ice, went one-on-one with Schneekloth, and turned the Eagles defenseman inside-out at the left wing. Foy's first shot was stopped by Rob Nolan, but converted the rebound in the goal mouth.

Another highlight reel move was in store and D'Alvise exploited the Colorado defense with 14:29 left in the third period, converting Tony DeHart's lead pass and splitting a pair of Eagles defensemen in the slot. His backhander beat Nolan for a 2-1 thunder lead and sent Stockton Arena into delirium.

Both teams waged a series of quality scoring chances on the goaltenders and the Thunder put Colorado on the ropes via a hooking penalty to Joey Sides with 1:51 left in the third period.

Nolan was pulled for an extra attacker to level the skating situation at 5-on-5, but Mike Little whacked a loose puck to center ice from the defensive zone, and Baker tracked it down for an empty net goal with 46.8 seconds left in the game.

The Thunder handed Nolan his second consecutive loss with 36 saves.

NOTES: Scratched for the game were Jody Pederson (healthy), Cameron Brodie (healthy), Sebastian Owuya (injured reserve), Gabriel Levesque (injured reserve), Jason Morgan (injured reserve) and Cameron Abney (injured reserve) ... Foy's shorthanded goal was the 200th point in his professional career ... Foy's goal was the fourth in a shorthanded situation for the Thunder ... D'Alvise collected his seventh point in seven ECHL games ... the Thunder outshot Colorado 39-33.

The Thunder returns to play on Friday, visiting the Bakersfield Condors at Rabobank Arena for a 7:00 p.m. faceoff. The game will be carried on radio at 1280 AM KWSX and online for viewing (pay-per-view video charge) and listening (free of 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 sixth consecutive season in 2010-11. Season Tickets for 2011-12 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. STK - 31 Olivier Roy

2. STK - 83 Matt Foy

3. STK - 10 Chris D'Alvise

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