Alaska Aces Drop Stockton Thunder In Overtime
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 03:33PM MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -STOCKTON, Calif. - Ryan Turek's game-winning goal with one second left in sudden-death overtime denied a Stockton Thunder (4-4-1, 9 points) rally and attempt for a fifth straight win, helping the Alaska Aces send the Thunder to a 4-3 loss in overtime before 6,976 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday.
The Thunder, who were playing on a pink-colored ice surface and wearing pink-accented jerseys for their annual "Thunder Goes Pink 4" event, extended their unbeaten streak in regulation to five straight games (4-0-1). Ryan Constant, Judd Blackwater and Oren Eizenman scored for Stockton, while Alaska was aided by a pair of goals from Matt Stefanishion and Alexandre Imbeault.
Alaska goaltender Sebastien Dahm collected the win with 30 saves in net.
Stefanishion lifted Alaska to a 1-0 lead just 2:18 into the game when he put a rebound into a semi-open net past Andrew Perugini's blocker for his fifth goal of the year, but the Thunder responded just 5:18 later on a power-play goal.
Constant took a re-directed pass by Kenny MacAulay at the left point and ripped a snap shot past Sebastien Dahm's blocker to knot the score at 1-1.
Stefanishion's second goal of the game put Alaska ahead 2-1 with 5:59 left in the opening frame. He took a centering pass from Nick Mazzolini and while left wide open in the slot, took advantage and ripped a wrist shot past Perugini's blocker side.
With another power play goal because of Lee Green's roughing penalty on Colin Yellow Horn, Judd Blackwater put another goal on the board with the pass straight from James Bates from between the circles. The goal at 9:19 in the second period went straight through Dahm's five hole, tying the score at 2-2.
The Aces took the lead back at 3-2 with 13.3 seconds left in the period on Imbeault's power-play marker after he cleaned up a rebound at the goal mouth following a diving save from Perugini on Bryan Miller.
Eizenman capitalized with his first goal of the year with 6:16 left in the third period, directing a pass from Jason Pitton into the net with one-timer from the mid-slot, leveling the score at 3-3.
With time winding down in the overtime period, Alaska established a forechecking cycle against the left wing boards, setting up Turek's game-winning goal. After Imbeault untangled the puck out of a battle and found Colin Hemingway, the follow-up pass from Hemingway found Turek at the right circle, who darted on goal and snuck a backhanded deke past Perugini's blocker side.
Perugini made 19 saves and his record moved to 3-2-1 for the regular season.
NOTES: The Thunder scratched Matt O'Dette (injured reserve), Mike Bayrack (injured reserve), Steve Vanoosten (healthy) and Kelly Czuy (injured reserve) ... highlighting a physical contest, Garet Hunt and Alaska counterpart Chris Morehouse dropped the gloves at the opening faceoff ... the Thunder record, lifetime in the "Thunder Goes Pink" series moved to 5-1-1 ... the Thunder outshot Alaska, 33-23 and went 2-for-6 on the power-play.
The Thunder returns to play at Stockton Arena on Saturday, facing the Alaska Aces at 7:30 p.m. to finish "Thunder Goes Pink 4." The game can be heard and viewed exclusively online at www.stocktonthunder.com, courtesy of B2 Networks (audio is free of charge).
The Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew 223,854 fans to Stockton Arena in 2008-09. Season Tickets for 2009-10 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/.
Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com).
Bob Matuszak | Comments Off | 





