Thunder Start Great, Beat Bulls 5-1

Published on December 30, 2013 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Stockton, Calif. - Stockton rode a four goal first period to rout the San Francisco Bulls by a final score of 5-1, Sunday afternoon at Stockton Arena.

Five different Thunder players collected goals on the night with four players posting multi-point efforts. Forwards Matt Bergland and Nick Larson along with center James Henry each collected one goal and one assist while forward Ben Rosen notched helpers.

"Now with the three lines we have going everyone is getting a lot of ice time," Head Coach Rich Kromm said. "Everyone is playing with a lot of confidence and it's a good sign for our team."

The game started with the same tension as the previous two match-ups between the two squads, as there were two fights in the first 3:15 of the game. Sandwiched in between the fights, one for captain Garet Hunt and the other for defenseman Landon Oslanski, the Thunder got the scoring started. Bergland tipped the puck past Bulls' goaltender Tyler Beskorowany off a feed from defenseman Shawn Boutin.

"I was just skating up to the net and the puck went to Boutin," said Bergland. "He took his shot and as it was traveling towards the net I deflected the puck up over the goaltender's glove."

The second of the four goals in the first period was a short-handed tally thanks to some nifty passing from Henry and Rosen. After Rosen started the 2-on-1 breakaway, the two passed back-and-forth until Henry deked around the goalie and hammered home the Thunder's second goal.

Defenseman Mike Dalhuisen then extended the lead to 3-0 with his tally with 3:07 left on the first period clock. Dalhuisen collected the puck in the middle of the offensive zone off his own rebound and flipped a backhand shot into the net.

Nick Larson wrapped up the scoring in the opening frame as he beat Beskorowany from in close after the Thunder forced a turnover on the forecheck. Larson's tally ended Beskorowany's night early for the second straight game. After making it through two periods yesterday, the Bulls' netminder was replaced by J.P. Anderson after giving up 4 goals on 16 shots.

"All the credit goes to Ben Rosen on that goal," said Larson. "He made a great play when he stripped the puck from their defenseman and made a very quick play to get the puck to me. I was wide open in front and put the backhand in."

San Francisco scored the only goal of the second period with 2:13 left in the frame as forward Tyler Gron, who scored in yesterday's tilt, got the Bulls on the board. Gron put a shot up high past Thunder goaltender Parker Milner only four seconds into a Bulls' power-play. The Gron tally was the only goal given up by Milner as he ended the night with 31 saves.

"Gron got loose off the faceoff and he put it over my glove, just a good shot," said Milner. "It was at the end of the period so I had some time to regroup and it certainly helped to have such a big lead at the time."

The Thunder again found their scoring touch in the third period when Oslanski restored the Thunder's four-goal lead. Off a pass from forward Alex MacLeod, Oslanski blasted a one-timer past Anderson to wrap up the scoring for the Thunder.

With the win The Thunder now move to 16-10-0-4 on the season and are 10 points ahead of the San Francisco Bulls for second place in the Pacific Division. After the game, more than 500 kids and their families came down onto the arena surface to paint the ice as part of the Thunder's "We Paint the Ice" event. Both teams are back at it on Friday when they continue their series of five consecutive games against each other. The Thunder and Bulls will be playing on the newly redecorated ice as the Thunder make hockey history. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

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