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Thunder falls short in third period rally attempt, Fulton nets lone goal

March 31, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


BOISE, Idaho - Goaltender Bryan Hince stopped 22 shots and the Idaho Steelheads never trailed, sending the Stockton Thunder (34-32-5, 73 points) to a 2-1 defeat at Century Link Arena before a crowd of 4,612 on Friday.

The Thunder, who nearly rallied from down 2-0 in the final 20 minutes, earned the fifth seed in the Western Conference for the upcoming 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs after Bakersfield defeated Utah, 4-1. Stockton will face the Colorado Eagles in the opening round and Game 1 is Tuesday, Apr. 3 at Stockton Arena, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Jordan Fulton earned the only Thunder goal in the opening minute of the third period while Olivier Roy took the loss with 34 saves. Joe Pereira earned the game winner with 13:23 left in the second period.

"I didn't like our play in the first 30 minutes but I like the way we rebounded," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "I didn't think we were as sharp as we wanted to be and that resulted in us just scoring one goal. I thought we had opportunities to create better scoring chances - we didn't do it. Olivier was fantastic and we needed a goaltender to be as good as he was. He gave us a chance."

Derek Matheson put Idaho ahead, 1-0 at the 4:25 mark of the first period when he buried a rebound through traffic after Olivier Roy stopped Aaron Lewicki's backhanded bid at the goal mouth.

Pereira's game winner came off a Jacob Cepis assist when Pereira controlled the puck behind the Thunder net and put a wraparound attempt at the glove side of Roy. The puck ricocheted off two players and through Roy's five hole to put the Thunder in a 2-0 hole.

Fulton started the comeback attempt just 58 seconds into the third period when he raced to the net at top speed and deflected Jesse Fratkin's backdoor feed past Hince's blocker.

The Thunder continued to pressure the Idaho net with 11 shots in the period and pulled Roy for an extra attacker in the final minute, but were unable to generate a shot after two faceoff wins.

NOTES: Scratched for the game were Kevin Baker (injured reserve) and Brock Matheson (healthy) ... through 11 games in the series, Idaho scored first for the eighth time this season ... Idaho earned the edge in shots at 36-23 ... Thunder forward Greg Squires made his pro debut and skated on a line with former Western Michigan University teammate Max Campbell ... Squires collected two shots on goal.

The Thunder concludes the regular season schedule tomorrow on the road against the host Idaho Steelheads at Century Link Arena, starting at 6:10 p.m. 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 2012-13 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. IDH - 1 Bryan Hince

2. IDH - 25 Joe Pereira

3. IDH - 11 Derek Matheson



ECHL Stories from March 31, 2012


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