Thunder Hold off Rivermen

January 10, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


BLOOMINGTON - The Bloomington Thunder won their sixth of the last eight games and third of the last four with the Peoria Rivermen with a 5-1 victory on Friday night at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

The Thunder scored first just 4:03 into the game when a forechecking Travis Granbois tangled up the puck between the legs of Rivermen goalie Kyle Rank and took it in front to score before Rank could get completely back into the crease for an unassisted shorthanded goal. Bloomington quickly built the lead to 2-0 with 13:12 left in the first period, less than three minutes later, when Burke Gallimore slapped a centering pass from the right wall to Curtis Megginson, who converted at the left post. The Rivermen used their second power play to cut the lead to 2-1 with 11:47 left in the opening period as Aaron McGill settled a puck down in the slot and spun a shot past the glove of Thunder goalie B.J. O'Brien.

The score remained 2-1 until 2:05 showing before the second intermission when Kyle Watson went top shelf from the left circle after assists from Patrick Schafer and Eddie Olczyk to increase the hosts' advantage to 3-1 at the break.

The Thunder increased the advantage to 4-1 with 10:03 remaining in regulation when a shot from the right wall popped into the air in front of the crease, where Megginson tapped it into the net for his second goal of the game. An empty net breakaway goal by Gallimore with 45.2 seconds left set the final score at 5-1.

O'Brien stopped 33 shots for the win while Rank made 21 saves in the loss. The Thunder were 1-for-5 on power plays while the Rivermen were 1-of-6 with the man advantage.

Before the game, Thunder goalie Max Strang was called up for the second time this season to the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. Strang was 8-11-0 in 19 appearances this season with a 3.16 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. The rookie from Gilbertsville, Pa. was named Easton Southern Professional Hockey League Player of the Week twice, most recently two weeks ago.

The Thunder and Rivermen rematch on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at Carver Arena of the Peoria Civic Center. Fans are invited to watch the game at Six Strings at 524 N. Center St. in downtown Bloomington or through subscription via America One Sports. Links to the video and the WJBC.com audio broadcasts are at www.bloomingtonthunder.com. The Thunder face the Rivermen three times next weekend, hosting Friday's 7:05 p.m. game before traveling to Peoria for Saturday and Sunday contests. Schedule and ticket information is available at www.bloomingtonthunder.com and by calling 309-434-2980 with gameday and single-game tickets available through the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office. The latest Thunder information is also available on Facebook and Twitter (BLMThunder).

Junior Blaze fall: The Bloomington Junior Blaze dropped a 10-5 home decision to the Soo Firehawks in Midwest Junior Hockey League play on Friday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Micah Young led the Blaze with two goals and one assist. The teams meet again at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Pepsi Ice Center and 11 a.m. Sunday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.



SPHL Stories from January 10, 2014


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