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Thunder wraps regular season home slate with win, ECHL attendance lead

April 5, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Rookie left wing Liam Reddox scored two goals and all-star goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 36 shots to lead the Stockton Thunder (38-22-10, 86 pts) to a 4-2 victory over the Fresno Falcons before 6,596 fans at Stockton Arena on Wednesday night extending the club's team record winning streak to 11 games. The Thunder remains in fifth position in the National Conference with the victory, tied with the Idaho Steelheads at 86 points.

The Thunder finished the home regular season slate with a 21-11-4 record at Stockton Arena and drew 244,085 fans, currently leading the ECHL in attendance for the second year in a row. The draw is the ECHL's highest since 2001-02 when Florida led the league with 238, 296 total fans. Florida is currently second this season in the league in attendance at its 7,093-seat Germain Arena, but with 210, 436 fans total (6,189 average) with two home games remaining.

The Falcons opened the scoring at the 10:39 mark of the first period as defenseman Dustin VanBallegooie scored his 11th goal of the season beating Dubnyk low on the stick-side with a one-timer from the point to give Fresno a 1-0 advantage.

Moments earlier, Dubnyk turned aside a Rob McFeeters 20-foot wrist shot attempt from the slot with a pad save. Falcons goaltender Ryan MacDonald would preserve the Fresno lead in the waning moments of the period with a glove stop on a Jason Beckett shot attempt from atop the left face-off circle during the course of a Stockton man advantage.

The Thunder would solve MacDonald in the latter half of the second period with three straight markers. Center Colin Pepperall tied the score 1-1 at 14:49, the beneficiary of a loose puck in front of the Falcons goal. Pepperall corralled the puck atop the Falcons goal crease, firing a shot top shelf past a crowd in front of a helpless MacDonald, disrupted by a myriad of Fresno and Stockton players poking at the rebound. The goal was Pepperall's 10th on the season.

Stockton rookie right wing Stephane Goulet lifted the Thunder to a 2-1 lead at 15:32, the beneficiary of a tape-to-tape feed from right-winger Tim Verbeek who hit a streaking Goulet to send him in alone against the Falcons netminder. Goulet proceeded to beat MacDonald with a backhand deke glove-side to collect his 17th goal of the year.

Reddox capped the second period scoring at 19:20 as his pass attempt off a strong wrap-around effort behind the Falcons goal deflected off the inside of McDonald's left-pad, beating the goaltender five-hole to give Stockton a 3-1 lead. Reddox's goal was his 7th of the season.

Reddox's second goal of the night at the 7:45 mark of the third period made it 4-1 in favor of the Thunder. The Thunder left-winger made his way up the left-side and into the Falcons zone, skated towards the slot, and beat goaltender Scott Stirling with a wrist-shot short-side for his 8th goal of the season.

Falcons left-winger Brian McConnell brought the Falcons to within two goals at 12:15 as he found himself on the receiving end of a tape-to-tape pass off the boards from defenseman Matt O'Dette into Thunder territory. McConnell would beat Dubnyk with a wrist-shot glove-side from the left face-off circle. McConnell's 8th goal of the season made the score 4-2.

Mike Lalonde collected two assists in his return to the Stockton lineup after missing 18 games on the injured reserve list.

Before the game, the Thunder activated defenseman Mark Adamek off the 7-day injured reserve list and placed forward Mathieu Melanson on the 3-day injured reserve list.

The Thunder returns to play on Friday, April 6 with a 7:05 p.m. road game against the Las Vegas Wranglers at Orleans Arena. The game can be heard live on the internet (free-of-charge) and is available for viewing at a $6 "pay-per-view" charge at www.stocktonthunder.com (courtesy of B2 Networks).

Recently named host of the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game, the Thunder drew 228,364 fans to Stockton Arena in its inaugural season, the ECHL's best attendance mark for 2005-06. Ticket packages and individual tickets for the Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Diede Construction and 2007-08 Thunder season tickets 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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Three Stars:

1. STK - Liam Reddox

2. STK - Mike Lalonde

3. STK - Devan Dubnyk



ECHL Stories from April 5, 2007


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