Thunder Unable to Contain Aces

Published on March 23, 2014 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


Things just didn't go the way of the Stockton Thunder on Sunday afternoon as the Alaska Aces came ready to play from the opening faceoff, to the final whistle as they cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Thunder.

"They got the jump on us early and it almost seemed like everything that was going to the net, certainly not faulting Parker [Milner], but it seemed everything found a way into the net," said Head Coach Rich Kromm. "They made some great plays; they didn't have an overload of shots but capitalized on some real quality scoring chances."

Brett Findlay started the scoring just 2:10 seconds into the game and Alaska didn't look back from there. The former San Francisco Bull got the Aces started early when he put a shot past Milner to give Alaska the early lead and kick off a stretch of six straight goals from the team in 36:57.

Peter Sivak scored a power play marker just under three minutes after Findlay's tally, and about five minutes after that Evan Trupp scored his first of two straight goals, one of which came again with the extra man.

In total Trupp had a four point first period as he had assisted on both of the Aces first goals before putting in two of his own including the one that forced Coach Kromm to do something to shake his team up. Kromm elected to remove his starting goaltender for the first time all season as he took Milner out of the crease and inserted Brian Foster in his place. Milner made 8 saves on 12 shots before making way for Foster.

The intermission didn't seem to help things improve as another former San Francisco Bull, Jordan Morrison, scored to make it 5-0 early in the second period followed by the sixth goal of the game for the Aces courtesy of a shorthanded tally by Zach McKelvie. For McKelvie it was his third goal of his professional career and first as a member of the Aces.

With time winding down in the second period Corey Syvret took a holding penalty to put the Thunder on their sixth power play of the game. After coming up empty handed five previous times, the team would finally get the positive thing they were looking for when a Landon Oslanski shot was tipped by Sean Escobedo on the way past Alaska goaltender Aaron Crandall making his pro debut.

"We did a great job on the entry, the forwards were really getting in the zone," said Escobedo. "Oslanski got the puck up top from Joey Diamond and he saw me in front of the net. I was able to get a tip on the shot then clean up the rebound."

The Aces would respond quickly as Tommy Mele deposited the third goal past Foster and seventh goal of the evening just over two minutes later. However the Thunder would once again respond with just 50 seconds left in the second period thanks to Alan Quine.

Quine has made an early business about scoring as the former 6th round draft pick of the New York Islanders has 6 goals and 19 assists in the AHL with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season, and after picking up assists in each of his first two ECHL games, the Belleville, Ontario native finally put in his first ECHL goal of his career.

The play started with Quine entering the zone and dishing the puck down low to his fellow Bridgeport Sound Tiger Diamond and worked a give and go to perfection ending with Quine sliding the puck five-hole past Crandall.

"Someone popped it out to me and I had it right down the pipe but I faked the shot and passed it to Diamond," said Quine. "After the pass, Diamond gave it back to me and I slid it home."

Quine's goal would mark the end of the scoring as neither team scored in the third period and the Aces win 7-2. Milner returned to the cage in the third period and finished the night with 19 saves on 23 shots while Foster stopped 2 of 5 shots.

The Thunder go 1-1-0-0 this weekend setting up an important week for playoff seeding as the team takes on the Idaho Steelheads in three of the next four games. Idaho comes to Stockton Arena on Wednesday for the third to last Family Day. Fans can purchase their Thunder Pride Packs featuring four Upper End Zone tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas for $38. Purchase your pack online and receive a Thunder hat at no additional charge.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from March 23, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central