Thunder End Losing Skid in Ontario

Published on February 6, 2014 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Stockton Thunder (22-16-0-5) ended their three-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Ontario Reign (29-10-2-3) on Wednesday night at Citizens Business Bank Arena. It was the fourth straight victory for the Thunder on the Reign's home ice.

The Thunder started the game with three goals in a span of 1:28 in the first period, starting with a five-on-three power play goal by Joey Martin at the 5:54 mark of the opening frame. His line mates Mitch Bruijsten and Greg Miller worked the puck around and picked out Martin at the back post. He controlled the puck before slipping it through the pads of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora.

The Thunder made it 2-0 less than 30 seconds later as the power play time continued. James Henry fired home a five-on-four goal off a pass from Matt Bergland, and the Thunder were off and running. The start got even better a little later as defenseman Lee Baldwin uncorked a slap shot from the blue line that fooled Olkinuora and beat the goalie on his glove side.

Ontario defenseman Matt Register pulled one back later in the period with a power play tally of his own, but the Thunder still took a two goal lead into the first intermission. Things started much the same in the second as Bergland deflected home the Thunder's third power play goal of the contest off a shot from the point by Mike Dalhuisen. It was Bergland's second point of the night, coming 6:14 into the period.

Once again however, the three-goal lead did not last long as Ontario's Sebastian Stalberg cut the deficit to two with a one-time blast from the slot just 39 seconds later. The 23-year-old forward from Sweden was not done yet as he added a second tally later in the period. Register let a shot go from the point that deflected into the air on the rebound. Stalberg reacted quickest and batted the puck out of midair and into the net at the 15:57 mark of the frame to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Thunder were able to turn away an onslaught of pressure late in the period and hang onto their lead, as they were outshot by Ontario 16-8 in the frame. In the third, the Thunder came out playing defensive-minded hockey, keeping the Reign forwards at bay. There was a stroke of luck early on though as Miller carried the puck into the offensive zone and flipped a backhand shot at the net from a sharp angle. The puck somehow slipped behind Olkinuora to give the Thunder an insurance goal and a 5-3 lead just 3:38 into the period. It was Miller's 14th goal of the season, which moves him into a tie for the team lead with captain Garet Hunt.

The Thunder killed off a couple of penalties in the third, while goaltender Parker Milner made some excellent saves to maintain the team's lead. With 2:08 to play, Bruijsten capped the game for the Thunder with an empty net goal from inside his own blue line while the Reign were playing with the extra attacker. Miller earned the game's first star honors for his three-point performance while Milner picked up his fourth win of the season for the Thunder, stopping 31 shots.

It was a good rebound performance for the Thunder who bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Bakersfield on Tuesday night and now have a travel day before opening a five-game set in Alaska, starting with three games against the Aces this weekend. Friday's game on February 7, is part of the ECHL's Hockey Heritage weekend and will be televised locally and nationally. The game will be carried live in the Stockton market through Antenna TV (KTXL.2), FOX40's digital channel, and on tape-delay by Comcast Sportsnet California and NHL Network on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

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