Victoria rallies from three goal deficit, Lawrence picks up four points

Published on March 26, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Chad Painchaud capped off a five-point game (1g-4a) with a shootout goal in the fifth round, completing a wild comeback by the Victoria Salmon Kings to edge the Stockton Thunder (34-22-10, 78 points) in a shootout, 7-6, before a crowd of 5,830 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night.

"It was a lot of selfish hockey being played tonight," said head coach Matt Thomas. "Their goalie struggled, our goalie struggled and we both gave up good chances. We certainly were the ones that blew it, giving up a three-goal lead."

Victoria clinched the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and the Thunder received some help. Losses by Utah and Idaho whittled the magic number to 3 to clinch home ice advantage in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Chris Lawrence led the Thunder offense with a four point game (1g-3a).

A total of six goals were scored in the opening period alone, beginning with a pair of rapid-fire goals by Victoria in the first four minutes.

At 2:25, Daryl Marcoux received a holding minor that put the Thunder on the penalty kill. Less than a minute later, Craig Valette incurred another minor penalty for goaltender interference, which put the Thunder at a serious disadvantage and resulted in 5-on-3 play.

After setting up on the power play, Milan Gajic sent a centering pass to Painchaud from above the circles. Painchaud let rip a one-timer that flew by Sexsmith's blocker to open up the scoring, 1-0.

On the ensuing power-play, Geoff Waugh blistered a one-timer from the point for his third goal of the season at 4:12 for a 2-0 edge.

Stockton finally got its turn with the man-advantage as Rick Cleaver got sent to the box with a minor tripping penalty at 6:38 of the first. A minute later, Jordan Foreman capitalized on the play and earned his seventh goal of the season, as he capitalized off a rebound from Ryan Constant's long shot from the point to make it 2-1.

After Garet Hunt was whistled off for slashing, the Thunder took the opportunity to get a short-handed goal, courtesy of Jim McKenzie, who received his twelfth goal of the season. McKenzie shot the puck from the slot past Spratt, who had went into his butterfly, far from the crease, putting the Thunder ahead for the first time, 3-2.

Stockton's Hunt Lawrence led the charge in the attacking zone during some rare 5-on-5 hockey in the remaining six minutes of the first period. After Hunt passed the puck over to his teammate, Lawrence took it to the crease and went one-on-one with Spratt, beating the goaltender five-hole and increasing the score, 4-2.

The second period featured back-and-forth goals from the two teams. Marcoux's second penalty of the night, a slashing minor at 4:09 of the second period, would lead to another Victoria goal.

Rick Cleaver capitalized off a screen, getting a piece of Rob Hennigar's shot from the blueline to slice the deficit to 4-3 at 4:21 of the second period.

Just 53 seconds later, Jordan Fulton capped a 2-on-1 break by taking Lawrence's cross-ice feed at the left circle and blasting a wrist shot past Spratt's blocker for his 16th goal of the season and to restore the two goal lead.

Steve Vanoosten snuck a wrist shot past Spratt from the right point just 29 seconds into the third period, boosting the lead to 6-3 for his sixth goal of the season.

Victoria kept pace and knocked the deficit down to two at 3:18 on a Jeff Caister rebound at the front of the crease.

Cam Ritchie then closed the gap to 6-5 when he completed a re-directed passing sequence from Painchaud and Hennigar, beating Sexsmith to the blocker side for his first professional goal with 8:05 left in the game.

Hennigar then banged in a rebound to tie the game, 6-6 on the power play with 5:42 left.

The Thunder poured five shots on Spratt in the overtime period, nearly finding the net on separate chances from Fraser Clair, Jason Pitton and a wraparound from Hunt.

The tie carried over into the shootout, and after Rick Cleaver and Pitton traded first and third round goals respectively, Painchaud ended the game on a wrist shot to the blocker side of Sexsmith in the bottom of the fifth round.

Spratt, rebounding from allowing four goals on the first 14 shots, took the win 29 saves. Sexsmith moved his record to 3-0-1 since returning from the AHL with 32 saves.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Cameron Brodie (healthy), Dan Ringwald (injured, day-to-day), Kelly Czuy (injured reserve), and Jarrett Konkle (injured, day-to-day) ‚¬Â¦Victoria had the edge in shots, 39-35 ‚¬Â¦ Lawrence completed a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" effort with a fight in the first period, facing Victoria's Matt Butcher ‚¬Â¦ the road team in the head-to-head series has won eight of 11 games ‚¬Â¦ by picking up a point, the Thunder moved to 4-0-2 in the last six games ... the game was the launch of the annual "Easy Being Green" eco-friendly promotion at Stockton Arena, where Thunder fans experienced an environmentally friendly green fair in the concourse and were treated to eco-friendly microfiber cloth rally towels.

The Thunder returns to play at Stockton Arena tomorrow, hosting the Victoria Salmon Kings at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard on radio at 1280 KWSX 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 "Award of Excellence," 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- 29 Tyson Sexsmith

2. STK- 16 Jordan Foreman

3. STK- 24 Garet Hunt

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ECHL Stories from March 26, 2011


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