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Thunder Tally Up Second Win Against Madison

January 23, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


Bloomington, IL - Jack Jenkins (University of Notre Dame) and the Bloomington Thunder picked up a 5-1 win over the Madison Capitols to open their second straight 3-in-3 weekend. The Thunder are now 2-0-0 over the Caps this season after topping the Caps in Bloomington Friday night and in Madison before Christmas. With the win, the Thunder leap- frogged the Green Bay Gamblers and the Chicago Steel in the standings. They now sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-16-6 record.

The Thunder grabbed the lead early in the game, potting a goal in the first period. With 6:18 on the clock, Thunder forward and Assistant Captain Matt Mendelson (Penn State University) picked up the first goal on their power play off Shane Bednard's (Bowling Green State University) fifth power play assist. The Capitols couldn't plant the puck in net in the first, but they tallied up a total of 10 shots in the period to Bloomington's 13 and one shot that rang off both posts of the Thunder net.

Thunder Assistant Coach Harry Mahood commented on the Thunder's defensive presence in the gam. "One thing we really talked about was defending with our sticks tonight. In the defensive zone guys had a really good focus getting sticks in passing lanes. Interestingly it is not always about how physical and what tactics you bring to the game as we focused on our sticks today"

Bloomington would quickly widen the scoring gap in the second by grabbing their second goal of the night just 1:21 into the period. Forward Ryan Siroky (Miami State University) slotted the eventual game winning goal and his seven of the season with an assist from Tarek Baker (University of Minnesota). Later in the period Jenkins scored the third goal for Bloomington and the second power play goal of the night, ending the night of goaltender Darren Smith (Ferris State University) who finished with 21 saves through 34 minutes of action. The Capitols shortly after grabbed their only goal of the night with 2:55 left in the period. Charlie Gerard (Ohio State University) snuck the only puck of the night past Bloomington to make it 3-1 at break.

Coach Mahood noticed Jenkins play in the game following his commitment to the University of Notre Dame during the week saying, "(Jack) really responded well tonight and it was a nice feel good story.

"It is interesting because sometimes guys grip their sticks a little tight through the whole process so it was nice to see him relax and play."

Bloomington maintained their lead through the third period, holding off the Capitols. With 4:39 left in the game, the Thunder racked up their fourth and final goal of the night. Jenkins stole his second goal of the night and eventually earning himself the first star of the game. In a last attempt to grab a goal, Madison pulled relief goaltender Garrett Metcalf with 1:26 left in the game. Forward Logan Lambdin seized the empty net and racked up more points for the Thunder potting the fifth goal of the game assisted by Butrus Ghafari (Western Michigan University).

Thunder goalie Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) took the win for Bloomington making 30 saves on 31 shots for the night. This was Lavigne's second win with the Thunder giving him a 2-1-0 record in five games with Bloomington. The goaltender has a .923 SVPT and a 2.05 GAA since being acquired by the Thunder. Smith suffered the loss for Madison as Metcalf made 14 saves in his relief appearance.

"Hayden is very intelligent and he is almost like a player out there and has great hockey sense," said Coach Mahood. "He can make great extension saves but just has that pure intelligence as a player. He is a guy that is going to get better and better as he goes along."

A total of 13 Bloomington players picked up points on the night. Bloomington will travel to Ann Arbor to face the USNTDP U17 on Saturday for their second game of the weekend at 7:00 pm EST.

"There are a lot of great teams in this league and be it the USA 18's or 17's the biggest thing is the pace of play and the skating. You're going to have to want to skate, defend, drive to the net and they really hurt teams on the power play," said Coach Mahood

Bloomington is 1-0-1 against the USNTDP this season with an eight-round shootout loss against the U18's at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.



United States Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2015


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