
Thunder suffer second straight defeat
January 28, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release
VICTORIA, British Columbia - Wes Goldie and Scott Howes netted a pair of goals and the Victoria Salmon Kings parlayed a wire-to-wire lead, sending the Stockton Thunder (18-20-5, 41 points) to a 7-3 loss in front of 5,073 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Tuesday.
The Thunder suffered their second straight defeat and received a goal each from Damian Surma, Sebastien Bisaillon and Mike Lalonde. Victoria goaltender Todd Ford improved to 10-0-1 in his last 11 games with the victory in net, making 27 saves.
With the Thunder forced to play a more run-and-gun attack with 12 forwards and just four defensemen, the Salmon Kings erupted for three first period goals, two by jumping on defensive miscues. Dan Gendur opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season at 7:05 when he picked up a loose rebound in the slot on a semi-breakaway, followed by a backhander that beat Pitton to the blocker side.
Wes Goldie buried his league-leading 35th goal of the season on the power-play to lift the Salmon Kings to a 2-0 lead with 9:18 gone in the second period and Olivier Labelle scored on a breakaway at 10:50 to hike the lead to 3-0.
The Thunder crept back into the game with two quick goals in the second period, starting with veteran Damian Surma's fifth of the year at 2:51 when he took Judd Blackwater's centering pass and put a backhander over Todd Ford's glove.
Defenseman Sebastien Bisaillon fired a slapshot from the left point that beat Ford with 6:16 elapsed to cut the deficit to 3-2. Victoria offered retaliation on the ensuing shift however, and rookie Scott Howes took a centering pass from Dan Gendur on the rush and lifted a wrist shot over Pitton's glove to restore Victoria's two-goal lead at 4-2.
Wes Goldie beat the Thunder defense down ice for a shorthanded goal and his second of the game with 1:26 left in the second period to hike the lead to 5-2. The Thunder countered quickly, with Mike Lalonde burying his 12th goal of the season just 19 seconds later for a power-play goal, cutting the deficit to 5-3 when he took James Bates' pass from the corner and slid a backhander underneath Ford.
Victoria finished the Thunder in the third period with two more goals, beginning with Curtis Billsten's 11th goal of the year on a slapshot from the right circle with 6:21 elapsed to hike the lead to 6-3.
The Thunder missed cashing in on a 3-on-2 shorthanded rush and Victoria swiftly countered with a 2-on-1 attack, finished by Howes' second goal of the game with 7:32 left in regulation.
NOTES: The Thunder scratched Marc-Andre Bernier (injured reserve), Ryan MacMurchy (injured reserve), Jordan Bendfeld (injured reserve), Cleve Kinley (injured reserve), David Rohlfs (injured reserve) and Mark Adamek (injured reserve), Ryan Constant (suspension) ... Pitton stopped a penalty shot at 16:04 of the first period on Labelle ... the Thunder were outshot 33-30 and fell to 10-15-3 in the lifetime series.
The Thunder returns to play tomorrow with a 7:05 p.m. road rematch against the Victoria Salmon Kings from Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. The game is available on radio at 1420 KSTN and online (audio is free-of-charge) for viewing 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, group, individual tickets and mini plan packages 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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