Thunder Snap Skid, Beat Idaho 4-3

December 8, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The third-straight game against the Steelheads was a game full of bad blood as a total of 128 penalty minutes were dished out to the two teams on Idaho's Teddy Bear Toss night.

The third straight matchup proved to be one of bad blood, but the Thunder would snap their five-game winless streak by taking down the Idaho Steelheads 4-3.

The Thunder win came on Idaho's "Teddy Bear Toss" night, and much like the previous teddy bear matchup in Bakersfield, the Thunder surrendered the first goal.

After limiting the Steelheads shots and chances early in the first, it'd be Brock Montgomery who would send the teddy bears over the glass. Etienne Boutet shot one from the point that never made it to Brian Foster. Foster reacted to the initial shot which took him out of position, but the deflection caromed right to the stick of Montgomery, who slipped the puck past the Thunder goaltender.

Unlike the last few games the Thunder's response was fast and furious as a response was had less than three-minutes after the Idaho goal. With Idaho Captain Justin Mercier in the box, Andrew Clark turned the puck up to Ryan Constant, who then slid the puck to the far circle for Nathan Deck who ripped a wrister over Idaho's Pat Nagle to draw even.

"We wanted to make sure we started the game the way we finished last night," explained Head Coach Rich Kromm. "I thought our last thirty minutes were really good and I think we carried that momentum into tonight."

The teams would head into the second period tied but just over five minutes in, Michal Spacek fired a shot on the Idaho goaltender, but he couldn't control the rebound. In came Joey Martin who slid the puck past Nagle for the Thunder 2-1 lead.

Then it would again be Deck who'd extend the Thunder lead, once again, coming on the power play. Greg Miller found Deck at the point who blasted his second goal of the night.

"I think it was finally getting some to go home for me and continuing to put pucks on net," said Deck. "The boys came together and we worked hard on the power play. We kept things simple and got pucks on goal and thankfully we found the back of the net."

Idaho would get one back early in the third but the Thunder response was once again quick and on the power play.

Corey Trivino received the pass on the far boards and patiently skated around an Idaho penalty killer and picked his head up to find Martin in front of Nagle with space. Martin backhanded one into the open net past the outstretched Nagle for the 4-2 Thunder lead.

That's when the bad blood really began. After that Thunder goal a total of 86 penalty minutes was handed out to both teams, 48 to the Steelheads and 38 to the Thunder.

Deck was called for a boarding penalty at the 16:05 mark and began to skate to the sin bin but near the Idaho bench a fracas broke out. Constant had his back turned to the play when he absorbed a crosscheck to the ribs. The alternate captain had determined he had enough and threw a punch which saw all 10 skaters pair off.

When it was all said and done, Constant picked up a misconduct and a minor, Martin with a misconduct, and Trivino with a misconduct for the Thunder. Boutet and Gaelan Patterson picked up misconducts for the Steelheads.

With Idaho now on the power play, the team would again rely on Mitch Wahl and Anthony Nigro to give them a chance to come back. Wahl, on the side-boards, picked out Nigro in front of Foster all alone. Nigro deflected Wahl's pass behind Foster to pull the Steelheads within one with 3:39 to go in the final frame.

However, that would be as close as Idaho got as the Thunder killed off the remaining time to snap their five-game winless streak and four-game losing streak. The team didn't have much time to celebrate as both benches continued to chat after the game ended with Wahl eventually picking up the game misconduct after time had expired.

The game ended with the Thunder being handed 57 penalty minutes and the Steelheads with 71. The Thunder had the extra man advantage 10 times and scored on 3 of them. The league's best power play has been amazing at Stockton Arena, but has failed to put pucks in the net on road power play opportunities. The three goals that the Thunder scored on the power play were just their 7th power play markers away from Stockton on the season.

"I've been involved in a lot of those types of games," explained Kromm. "Every time we'd get a power play there'd be a penalty called against us, or a make-up call, but we talked about that before the game...we had to be prepared for it."

The Thunder now have a week's wait until their next game as they travel to Daly City to take on the San Francisco Bulls at the Cow Palace on Saturday for a 7:30 start. They'll turn right back home after that game as they'll host the Bakersfield Condors at Stockton Arena on Sunday, December 15th at 4:00 p.m. That game against Bakersfield is a family day, so for $38 you can get four Upper End Zone tickets, four sodas, and four hot dogs. Order online and you'll get a Thunder hat thrown in at no extra charge!



ECHL Stories from December 8, 2013


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