Thunder Top Musketeers in Physical Battle

Published on October 10, 2015 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Blocking shots was the name of the game for the Bloomington Thunder who turned in a 2-1 victory over the Sioux City Musketeers Friday night. The Thunder relied on transition plays to score both goals in the game and the defense kept the puck away from the front of the net. Bloomington's win moves them to 2-3-0 while the Musketeers fall to .500 with a 2-2-0 record.

"From the forwards to the defense we blocked a total of 26 shots tonight so that shows there's an effort to win. It's also a commitment to doing something that is necessary to win," said Assistant Coach Mike Watt after the game. "If you watch the NHL, the Rangers and Canucks are big on (blocking shots) so there are teams showing us what we need to do and the effort that needs to be involved in a win. We stuck to that tonight."

The first goal came 6:50 into the first period and gave the Thunder an early lead. Blake Gober stripped the Musketeers defense at center and made his way over the line. With Tarek Baker (University of Minnesota) on the left wing breaking to the net, Gober elected to shoot and beat Cameron Gornet (Harvard University) on the short side for his second of the year.

The stage was set for the Thunder who blocked a flurry of shots toward the end of first period, resulting in just seven shots on goal for the Musketeers through 20 minutes of action.

However, the USHL's leading scorer Eeli Tolvanen scored the first for the Musketeers, moving down the left wing. After getting the pass from Jake Ryczek (Providence College), Tolvanen shot through the legs of the Thunder defense and put the puck off the post just under five minutes into the period.

"They are very skilled and very talented. If you don't close gaps and take away their time and space they can do some damage. We saw that on the first goal," mentioned Watt. However he continued to praise the Thunder for their defensive effort in the game to stop the Musketeers.

"Overall, I think the effort and what we needed to do was there and the matchups we got were favorable. In the third period we let off the gas and went into a bit of a defensive shell, but we had some blocked shots again that helped."

Late in the second, the Thunder retook the lead in the game. Icing was waived off and the Thunder picked off the puck at center. Van Barr (Western Michigan University) had the initial shot stopped, but Sean Harrison (Union College) pushed the puck into the back of the net. The goal would need to be reviewed and the referee, Walker Holton, confirmed the goal. It was Harrison's first of the year and was the eventual game winning goal.

The third period was a scoreless battle where the Musketeers pulled out all the stops. They took a game high 11 shots and goaltender Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) stopped every one of them. He ended the night with 26 saves as the Musketeers pulled the goalie with under a minute to play. Gornet finished with 27 saves and the loss.

"We had some turnovers in our zone that created some chances from them, but when we got pucks out we got opportunities. Conversely, in the offensive zone we made some turnovers that transitioned them, but we also picked some passes off and got our turnovers in transition too," said Watt about his team who scored two goals off of positive turnovers in the game, helping them to the win.

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United States Hockey League Stories from October 10, 2015


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