Thunder finishes 5-1-0 in Victoria this year, Pitton outduels Beckford-Tseu

Published on January 9, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


VICTORIA, British Columbia - Rookie Bretton Cameron collected his second multi-goal effort in three games, including the game winner in the second period, and Bryan Pitton outdueled Chris Beckford-Tseu with 30 saves to lift the Stockton Thunder (14-11-6, 34 points) to a 3-1 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings before 3,734 fans at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday.

Cameron took over as the active Thunder goal-scoring leader with 10 goals (tied with Chris D'Alvise), scoring four in three games while Ryan Constant helped out with a first period goal. Stockton took four of six possible points in the three-game series and finished 5-1-0 in six games this year in Victoria.

‚¬Å“We earned a good, hard-fought win tonight, ‚¬Â said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. ‚¬Å“We needed to finish the road trip strongly and our effort was much improved. Anytime you can take four of six points on the road, it's well-deserved. It was unfortunate we couldn't finish off the shutout for Pitton but he gave a shutout-worthy performance. ‚¬Â

Beckford-Tseu, making his Victoria debut, took the loss with 36 saves.

Constant's fourth goal of the season broke the scoreless tie at 5:31 of the opening period, dangling down the middle of the ice, around the Victoria defense and burying a snap shot over Beckford-Tseu's right shoulder.

Beckford-Tseu and Pitton continued to duel into the second period with the Thunder up 1-0 and Jim McKenzie was turned away on a turnaround wrist shot from beneath the hash marks while late in the period, Pitton denied Matt Stefanishion on a slapshot from the high slot with a glove saves.

After series of high quality chances on Beckford-Tseu, Cameron finally found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead in the second period for his ninth goal of the season with 4:15 left, slamming a Jarrett Konkle centering pass off Beckford-Tseu's blocker.

Pitton continued to hold Victoria at bay with 15 shots faced in the third period, stopping one-timers from Geoff Waugh and Milan Gajic in the final period. Cameron then put the Salmon Kings away with an empty net goal with 37 seconds left, blocking a shot at the left circle, deflecting the puck towards the neutral and burying a shot from the right wing after chasing the puck down.

‚¬Å“Good goal scorers get streaky and Bretton's hot right now, ‚¬Â said Thomas. ‚¬Å“He's got to keep shooting. ‚¬Â

Jeff Caister put a consolation goal past Pitton with 1.8 seconds left on a deflection from a sharp angle.

NOTES: The Thunder dressed five defensemen, 11 forwards and scratched Chase Ryan (healthy), Daryl Marcoux (injured reserve), Jordan Foreman (injured reserve), and Tyson Sexsmith (injured reserve) ‚¬Â¦ Stockton outshot Victoria, 39-32 ‚¬Â¦ the Thunder improved to 8-6-3 on the road and have won eight of the last 12 all-time games at Victoria, dating back to 2008-09 ‚¬Â¦ Ryan MacMurchy, who had three goals in three games against his former team, was held scoreless on three shots ‚¬Â¦ Beckford-Tseu was appearing in his first game against Stockton since 2006-07, when he beat counterpart and current Edmonton Oiler Devan Dubnyk on 18 saves with the Alaska Aces.

The Thunder returns home for its next game Wednesday, Jan. 12 against the Bakersfield Condors at 7:00 p.m. at Stockton Arena. The game can be heard on radio at 1280 AM 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 ‚¬Å“Award of Excellence, ‚¬Â 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. VIC - 30 Chris Beckford-Tseu

2. STK - 31 Bryan Pitton

3. STK - 22 Ryan Constant

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