Sports stats



Thunder Sink Buccaneers 4-1

January 15, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


Bloomington Thunder Face off with the Des Moines Buccaneers
Bloomington Thunder Face off with the Des Moines Buccaneers
(Bloomington Thunder)

BLOOMINGTON, Illinois - The Bloomington Thunder put anexclamation point on their Military Appreciation game with the Des MoinesBuccaneers early on Friday night. A 4-1 win from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum wasthe result of a fantastic performance by the Thunder to open the weekend.Bloomington (18-10-2-1) is 3-0 all time against Des Moines (15-15-2-0) who sitsin seventh place in the Western Conference. Bloomington is just two spotsbehind the Green Bay Gamblers with one game in hand for third place in theEastern Conference.

It was thefastest start in team history as TarekBaker (University of Wisconsin) stayed red hot for the team 15 seconds in.Bloomington's leading scorer made it eight goals in five games with a shotbeating Jan Ruzicka on the near sidepost. The Verona, WI native is the hottest goal scorer in the United StatesHockey League and leads the team with 22 points (13g, 9a) in his sophomoreseason.

The Thunderdominated the offensive side of the puck through the first period of playoutshooting the Buccaneers 12-5. Then JakeDurflinger scored for the Thunder after a shot hit the post from Jeremy Davies (Northeastern University) atthe blue line. The d-man held the line and eventually the puck found it's wayto Durflinger for an easy tap ingoal from the crease. The power play goal was his ninth of the season and addedassists to both Brogan Rafferty(Quinnipiac University) and VladDzhioshvili (Cornell University).

When it seemedlike the Thunder would run away with it after the first, but the Bucs made agoalie change and were able to counter on the offensive side of the puck aswell. Kenny Hausinger netted his 12thgoal of the season at 6:05 to bring the Bucs within one before the Thunder tookhold of the game.

Two minuteslater, the Bucs turned the puck over at center ice and Alec Mehr played the puck on a delayed penalty call. He gave it to Steven Merl (University of Michigan) whostarted a 2-on-1 with Sean Harrison(Union College). The Anchorage, AK native netted his third goal of theseason on a back door feed in his first game back from injury.

Davies finishedoff the second with his sixth goal of the year on a blast from the point. Thesecond year player and leading defenseman for the Thunder fired the puck off afaceoff with six minutes left in the period. The goal snuck past goaltender Nick MacNab (Yale University) whofinished the night with 14 saves in relief.

Ruzicka pickedup the loss with 10 saves in the game while Logan Halladay earned his fifth win of the year making 18 saves.His game high of nine came in the third period as he stopped two power playcharges with the net empty from the Bucs in under five minutes. Halladay's 2.24goals against average is fourth best in the USHL this season.




Images from this story

Bloomington Thunder Eye the Puck vs. the Des Moines Buccaneers
Bloomington Thunder Eye the Puck vs. the Des Moines Buccaneers
 Bloomington Thunder Face off with the Des Moines Buccaneers
Bloomington Thunder Face off with the Des Moines Buccaneers
  



United States Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Bloomington Thunder Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central