Thunder now winless in nine straight at Orleans Arena

Published on April 4, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


LAS VEGAS - Goaltender John DeCaro stopped 25 shots for his second shutout of the season, helping the Las Vegas Wranglers defeat the Stockton Thunder (32-32-7, 71 points), 4-0, before 4,828 fans at Orleans Arena on Friday.

The loss eliminated the Thunder from clinching home-ice advantage in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, who look to finish the season above the .500 mark in the regular season finale and a rematch with Las Vegas on Saturday. Rookie Kevin DeVergilio scored a pair of goals in his professional debut, spelling a goal each by Adam Miller and Hugo Carpentier.

Miller opened the scoring 6:15 into the game with a power-play goal when he took Scott McCulloch's centering pass from the right corner and re-directed a one-timer past Andrew Perugini's blocker for his 13th goal of the year.

Las Vegas hiked the lead to 2-0 with five minutes left in the period when Carpentier crashed the net and bounced a rebound through Perugini's five-hole for his ninth goal of the year, seconds after Dan Riedel fed the goal crease from the right circle.

DeVergilio cashed in with his first goal of the game in his pro debut 2:29 into the second period, just seconds after the Thunder's Adam Huxley and counterpart Tim Spencer dropped the gloves. Perugini turned aside a Sean Owens slapshot from the right point off an end zone faceoff, but DeVirgilio snuck the rebound under Perugini to put Las Vegas ahead 3-0.

DeVergilio put the game out of reach with his second goal coming with 6:24 left in regulation, putting Las Vegas up 4-0 by burying a rebound from below the right circle after Perugini fumbled Mick Lawrence's wrist shot through traffic.

The Thunder misfired on two ensuing power-play attempts to get on the scoreboard and didn't gain a man-advantage until Shawn Limpright took an unsportsmanlike conduct minor with 2:52 left in the game.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Marc-Andre Bernier (injured reserve), Jordan Bendfeld (injured reserve), Damian Surma (injury, day-to-day) and Ryan MacMurchy (injured reserve) ... the Wranglers outshot the Thunder 36-25 and stretched the Thunder's winless streak to an 0-8-1 mark in regular season games at Orleans Arena, dating back to 2005-06 ... Thunder rookie Brandon Naurato, signed as a free agent on Mar. 31 after a four-year college career at Michigan, made his pro debut in the game and fired three shots on goal.

The Thunder wraps up the regular season schedule tomorrow against Las Vegas at 7:30 p.m. from Orleans Arena. The game is available on radio at 1420 KSTN and online for viewing online (audio is free-of-charge) for a $7 charge at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/ (courtesy of B2 Networks).

The proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons, the Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for three consecutive seasons and drew 239,337 fans to Stockton Arena in 2007-08. Season tickets for 2009-10 and Kelly Cup Playoff tickets 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/.

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