Thunder vanquishes Cincinnati's league-record 17-game win streak

Published on March 2, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Goaltender Tim Boron made 42 saves and Brandon Schwartz had a goal and an assist to help lift the Stockton Thunder (23-31-3, 49 points) to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones, ending Cincinnati's ECHL-record 17-game winning streak in front of a crowd of 6,990 at Stockton Arena on Saturday night.

The Thunder gave the Cyclones its first loss since Jan. 13 at Reading and in the process ended all-star rookie David Desharnais' league-record 20-game assist streak, who scored the only goal for Cincinnati.

The Thunder struck first on a goal by Lance Monych, his team-leading 27th of the season, assisted by Pat Bateman and Brandon Schwartz at the first period's 13:33 time mark. Monych converted a rebound in traffic after Bateman's right wing shot was kicked to Monych in the slot by Cincinnati goaltender Maxime Daigneault.

Boron made seven saves in the first period as the Thunder maintained a physical presence in the opening 20 minutes, capped by a fight between rookie David Rohlfs and Cincinnati heavyweight Jimmy Bonneau.

The Thunder extended its lead to 2-0 at the 17:41 mark in the second period on a shorthanded goal by Brandon Schwartz, his 14th goal of the season, assisted by David Rohlfs and Tim O'Connell. Schwartz took an outlet pass by Rohlfs, releasing the puck up the left wing boards for the streaking Schwartz, who proceeded to cut toward the net at a sharp angle. Schwartz pulled Daigneault off the short-side post and stuffed a backhanded shot into the open left-side hole.

Cincinnati responded by outshooting the Thunder at a 16-5 pace in the second period but Boron kept the league's leading offensive team (219 goals heading into the game) at-bay with a multi-save sequence on Olivier Latendresse and Jason Deitsch from close-range late in the period.

Boron opened the period with a point-blank save in the slot on Matt Syrocynski but David Desharnais managed to extend his scoring streak to an ECHL season-high 23 straight games and broke Boron's shutout effort with Cincinnati's only goal of the game at the third period's 12:44 mark, his 16th of the season, assisted by Billy Irish-Baker and Thomas Beauregard.

Desharnais set a screen in front of Boron while Irish-Baker collected a loose puck in the slot and fired a wrist shot that deflected off Desharnais and into the net.

Thunder rookie Tom Zanoski, who missed the previous game as a healthy scratch, iced the game with an empty-net goal, his sixth of the season with seven seconds left in the game just moments after the Thunder cleared a loose puck, backed-up by Boron's point-blank save on Thomas Beauregard.

Boron made 19 saves in the third period to seal the victory.

NOTES: The Thunder missed the services of Ryan MacMurchy (injured reserve), Beau Geisler (injured reserve) and Fredrik Johansson (healthy scratch) ... the Thunder improved to 1-3-1 all-time against Cincinnati, with head coach Chris Cichocki picking up his first win against former Thunder captain Dean Stork, currently in his second year with the Cyclones as an assistant coach ... the Thunder is now 7-6-1 all-time against American Conference teams and picked up its 11th shorthanded goal of the year, a season record for the club.

The Thunder returns to play with a special 9:00 p.m. PT road game against the Las Vegas Wranglers on Tuesday from Orleans Arena. The game can be heard live on radio at 1420-AM KSTN and online (video and audio available) at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/, courtesy of B2 Networks.

The Thunder has led the ECHL in attendance for two consecutive seasons and drew 244,085 fans to the Stockton Arena in 2006-07. Season tickets, group tickets and individual tickets for 2007-08 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonthunder.com.

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