Thunder denied rally by Lamoureux's 20 third period stops, 34 total

Published on November 27, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. ‚¬" J.P. Lamoureux made 34 saves, including all 20 he saw in the third period, to send the Stockton Thunder (8-4-4, 20 points) to a 3-2 defeat to the Utah Grizzlies before 5,332 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night.

The Thunder who dropped to 0-3-1 in the last four games despite keeping hold of first place in the Pacific Division, were helped out on goals from Aaron Clarke and Jason Pitton. Utah used three unanswered goals in the decisive rally and were aided on Chris Donovan's game-winning goal in the second period.

"We were victimized by three 'bounce' goals that were produced by hard work and worked against us," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "You earn your bounces and we learned that lesson tonight. Not to fault our effort though; I thought it was there. We're not losing based on effort, which we can live with. The wins will come. The worst thing we could do is abandon ship on how we play, because we're staying in games all the way."

Clarke's third goal of the season lifted the Thunder to a 1-0 lead just 3:44 into the game, when he chased down Jason Pitton's pass to the slot and blasted a one-timer through Lamoureux's five-hole.

Utah answered on Simon Ferguson's first goal of the season on a power-play, leveling the score at 9:01 of the first period when he set a screen at the goal mouth and caught a piece of Brett Parnham's bid from the left boards.

Parnham then gave Utah the lead just 2:09 later when he picked up a rebound from a Brad Snetsinger miss at the left goal line and snuck a wrist shot past Zemlak's glove from the base of the right circle.

The rally for Utah increased their lead to 3-1 with 10:28 left in the second on Donovan's game-winning goal, when he followed up Kevin Deeth's shot with a rebound from behind the goal line and put it off the back of Zemlak, into the net.

The Thunder posted a power-play goal to get back in the game, trailing 3-2 on Pitton's fifth goal of the season with 6:16 remaining in the period. He set the scoring chance up with a screen in front of Lamoureux, and followed up a rebound to the back of the net from Anthony Aiello's wrist shot from the left point that initially caught a piece of Pitton.

In the third period, Stockton aimed for an equalizer on 20 shots on goal, but were turned away on all attempts, including two semi-breakaway chances from Fraser Clair.

For the game, the Thunder outshot Utah at a 36-22 clip.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Trevor Hunt (healthy), Jordan Foreman (injured reserve), Tyson Sexsmith (injured reserve) and Craig Valette (injured reserve) ... Stockton finished 1-3-1 in the five-game homestand ... Pitton's goal snapped an 0-for-15 scoreless drought on the power-play ... just two seconds into the game, Jesse Gimblett of the Thunder dropped the gloves with Utah's Nick Tuzzolino.

The Thunder returns to the road for its next game on Wednesday, December 1 against the Victoria Salmon Kings, starting at 7:05 p.m. at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. 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 - 1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux

2. STK - 17 Jason Pitton

3. UTA - 28 Brett Parnham

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ECHL Stories from November 27, 2010


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