Thunder moves into 5th in West with third straight win

January 25, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


BOISE, Idaho - Goaltender Alex Stalock made 29 saves and Ian O'Connor scored a pair of goals to lift the Stockton Thunder (18-17-4, 40 points) to a 4-1 victory over the host Idaho Steelheads at Century Link Arena on Tuesday.

Behind an attack of four unanswered goals, Stockton moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Western Conference with its third consecutive win and improved to 5-1-1 in Boise since 2009-10, benefiting from additional goals by Garet Hunt and Jordan Fulton.

"I thought we played a strong game as it went on," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "We came out with heavy legs at the start, but in the second period we began to make smart plays. Garet's goal was big as a response and then we began to settle into our game. I thought we played our best third period all year by sticking to the system, based on the numbers we had."

Stockton secured the win with 15 skaters and only seven available forwards after completing two trades during the day that had Matt Reber (Utah) and Max Campbell (Greenville) still en route to Boise by game time.

Stalock, who improved to 2-0-0 since returning from injury, had his heaviest lifting in the first period when he stopped 14 shots. In the second period, two of his eight saves came on breakaways when he robbed Michael Neal and Jacob Cepis in the final ten minutes of play.

After Stalock and Jerry Kuhn traded saves in the first period, Neal broke the scoreless tie with a snap shot off the rush from the left circle with 1:22 elapsed in the second period.

On the ensuing shift, a wrist shot by Hunt from the left circle knotted the score, 1-1 just 28 seconds later when he beat Kuhn over the blocker.

O'Connor then completed a 2-on-1 with Colten Hayes with 12:28 left for his 11th goal of the season and a 2-1 Thunder advantage. Idaho didn't quit and threatened with a breakaway by Neal just minutes later, but Stalock denied a forehand shot off his shoulder to preserve the lead.

Just seconds later at 14:51, O'Connor hiked the Thunder lead to 3-1 with his second goal of the game, stuffing a backhander under Kuhn after receiving a tape-to-tape feed from Kevin Baker at the goal mouth.

Stalock stopped all seven shots he saw in the third period and Fulton put the game away with his eighth goal of the season, completing a rocket-like centering pass by Jesse Fratkin at the right post with 11:35 remaining.

"(Stalock) was exactly what we needed him to be tonight," said Thomas. "He was a difference maker in the first period and the sharpest guy from the get-go. He settled into a groove and it was a great type of game for us to play with a guy like him still getting back into the swing of things."

Kuhn took the loss with 19 saves.

NOTES: Scratched for the game were Ryan Martindale (injured, day to day), Gabriel Levesque (injured reserve), Jason Morgan (injured reserve) and Thomas Heemskerk (injured reserve) ... O'Connor collected his sixth multi point game of the season ... Fulton's goal was his 12 th point in the last 11 games ... Stockton improved to 2-2-0 in the head to head series this season.

The Thunder returns to play tomorrow, visiting Idaho at 6:10 p.m. The game will be carried on radio at 1280 KWSX and online coverage is available for viewing (pay-per-view video charge) and listening (free of charge) atwww.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 2011-12 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. STK - 26 Ian O'Connor

2. STK - 35 Alex Stalock

3. STK - 18 Michael Neal



ECHL Stories from January 25, 2012


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