Thunder Tallies Once, Milner Shuts the Door

February 16, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Parker Milner stopped all 17 shots he faced while Greg Miller scored his team leading 17th goal of the season on the way to the Thunder's 1-0 win over the Utah Grizzlies

The Thunder played great defensive hockey and scored the lone goal in a 1-0 shutout victory over the Utah Grizzlies Friday night at Stockton Arena.

Despite a slow, four-shot first period for Thunder goaltender Parker Milner, the netminder who shut the door on the Grizzlies, ending up with 17 saves.

"It's always nice to see the hard work for our goalies pay off so I was happy to see Parker get a shutout," said Head Coach Rich Kromm . "Both our goaltenders have been playing very well and so tonight's shutout was well deserved."

The Thunder netminder came up huge late in the third period when Utah attempted to tie the game after they pulled their goaltender Aaron Dell. In the final scrum, defenseman Ryan Constant cleared a puck, that was just sitting behind Milner near the goal line, to safety, flipping it away to seal the Thunder victory.

"I was upset on the initial shot. I had the puck clearly under my glove and they poked it away," said Milner. "After that, the guys did a great job winning the ensuing faceoff, with Constant clearing it to end it."

The Thunder broke through for their only goal against Utah late in the second period when forward Greg Miller collected his team-leading 17th goal of the season. The play started with Constant wristing one towards the net. Center Joey Martin deflected the puck, causing the shot to go off the post, and allowing Miller to bat the puck out of midair for the lone Thunder tally.

" Shawn Boutin made a great play keeping our cycle alive," said Miller. "I then backed him up and found Constant. Constant made a great play and shot it at the net with Martin getting a stick at it on the way. The puck hit the post and I went to the net hard to hit it in."

The Thunder had chances to break the game open but fate had different plans. The first opportunity came just over four minutes into the second period. Captain Garet Hunt passed the puck to Martin, the Thunder's leading point getter then shot one that trickled past Dell. Unfortunately for the Thunder, the puck hit the post and stopped, allowing the Utah defenseman to clear it away.

The other high quality Thunder chances came on the power play, with the team drawing seven Utah penalties. The Thunder had three power plays in the first period alone for a total of 7:37 of the twenty minutes of play. Of that time, the Thunder had a 5-on-3 advantage for 23 seconds but were unable to capitalize.

"We didn't score but we had some chances," said Kromm. "Up in Alaska we got three out of the four so you aren't always going to score but as long as you are generating chances its positive."

With the win the Thunder improve to 24-20-0-5 on the season and remain in second place in the Pacific Division behind Ontario. The Thunders next game is against the Colorado Eagles when they visit Colorado for three straight games, starting February 21st. The Thunder are back home on March 2nd when they host another Youth Jersey giveaway. In addition, it will be a Family Day. For only $38, fans can purchase a package that features four Upper End Zone tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas. Order your package online to receive a Thunder hat at no additional charge.



ECHL Stories from February 16, 2014


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