Sports stats



Thunder Wins Sixth Straight

January 22, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Fraser Clair (2g-1a) and Ryan Constant (trio of assists) both posted three-point games to lead the Stockton Thunder (19-11-6, 42 points) to its sixth consecutive victory, routing the Ontario Reign in a 7-2 victory before 5,395 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday.

Stockton came back from an early 1-0 deficit to score seven of the next eight goals, claiming its seventh win in the last eight games and moving up to fourth place tie in the Western Conference. In a fight marred game that featured 96 penalty minutes, 50 which came in the final 3:27 of the game on five separate fights, the Thunder also got goal-scoring help from Steve Vanoosten, Jim McKenzie, Jordan Fulton, Jarrett Konkle and Garet Hunt.

‚¬Å“We were pretty opportunistic tonight, ‚¬Â said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. ‚¬Å“But, we worked hard to create those opportunities and to win the game, that's the end-all, be-all that we're looking for. I liked how we came out and played a textbook game in the third period, protecting the lead. ‚¬Â

Bryan Pitton boosted his record to 13-4-1 with a 21-save effort.

Shawn Collymore started the scoring by beating the defense to the outside, and burying a wrist shot from the right circle with 5:40 into the first period for a 1-0 Ontario lead, but the Thunder responded with a pair of goals in a span of 3:05.

Fulton set a screen in front of Ontario goaltender Beau Erickson, and caught a piece of Constant's wrist shot from the left circle for a power play goal with seven minutes left in the first, tying the game, 1-1.

The Thunder claimed the lead, 2-1, when Clair's blast from between the hash marks beat Erickson, completing Chris Lawrence's behind-the-back pass from the right wing with 3:55 left in the first period.

Clair, who tallied a ‚¬Å“Gordie Howe Hat Trick ‚¬Â with a goal, assist and fight in the game, then buried a rebound over a fallen Erickson from the right circle with 3:47 gone in the second period, boosting the lead to 3-1 on a play that began with Constant's stopped slap shot from the left point.

Jordan Morrison's power-play goal with just seven seconds left on a four-minute, double-minor power play cut the deficit to 3-2 with 10:33 left when his one-timer beat Pitton over the glove, on a feed by Aaron Lewadniuk from behind the net.

Four goals in the final period were enough for the Thunder to speed away from the Reign, beginning with Vanoosten's slapshot from the blueline 1:40 into the period for a power-play goal and 4-2 advantage.

Just 17 seconds later, Konkle converted P.A. Bureau's drop pass at the high slot and roofed a snap shot under the crossbar, boosting the Thunder lead to 5-2.

The Thunder kept persisting on the attack and after McKenzie missed on a rolling puck that went over his stick on an outnumbered attack, he returned seconds later to bury a wrist shot from between the circles with 6:07 left in the game for a 6-2 cushion.

Hunt's fifth goal of the season, a rebound that he converted with a backhand from the doorstep over Erickson's glove, hiked the lead to 7-2 with 3:26 remaining.

Several scraps broke out in the final four minutes of regulation, ending with ten players hitting the dressing rooms all on fighting majors issued, including the final of two scraps for Hunt and Ontario counterpart Doug Krantz, who dropped the gloves with 3:23 left in the game for their second fight each.

Clair fought Michael Pelech with 1:47 left to complete his goal, assist and fight effort.

Erickson took the loss with 25 saves.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Tyson Sexsmith (injured reserve) and Bretton Cameron (AHL transaction) ‚¬Â¦ Stockton improved to 8-5-3 at home and 3-1-1 in the head-to-head series with Ontario ‚¬Â¦ Bureau's two assists came in his first game against his former team, Ontario, who traded him to the Thunder shortly after Thanksgiving ‚¬Â¦ the Thunder went 2-for-4 on the power-play and outshot the Reign, 32-23 ‚¬Â¦ Lawrence collected a pair of assists in his first game back from a tryout with Worcester in the AHL.

The Thunder returns to play tomorrow at Stockton Arena, hosting the Ontario Reign at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard and viewed live on the internet (pay-per-view video charge) at www.StocktonThunder.com, courtesy of AmericaOne.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL ‚¬Å“Award of Excellence, ‚¬Â Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 2009-10. Season Tickets, mini-plans and individual tickets for 2010-11 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

THREE STARS:

1. STK - 9 Fraser Clair

2. STK - 31 Bryan Pitton

3. STK - 22 Ryan Constant

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from January 22, 2011


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