Matchup: Stockton Thunder at Idaho Steelheads. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Qwest Arena, 7 PM game time.
Thunder-struck: It’s a fitting way to draw the curtain on the 2009 portion of the regular season since it’ll be the tenth meeting of the season between Idaho and Stockton. Idaho is a perfect 9-0-0 against the Thunder so far, but Stockton’s roster has undergone a major overhaul since the teams last saw each other a month ago. Since then, Stockton has climbed out of the Pacific Division cellar and is nipping at the heels of second-place Ontario.
Wire to wire? While Stockton is climbing the Pacific Division standings, Idaho has been atop the West Division standings all season. The Steelheads opened the season with seven wins in their first eight games and has been in first place ever since. And head coach Derek Laxdal’s team has done it amid constant roster movement (which is typical as an affiliated minor-league team) – the team has had nearly 30 different players dress for a game this year, yet fewer than half a dozen have appeared in every contest.
The Idaho Steelheads (22-8-2) fell for the third consecutive game as the Stockton Thunder (13-14-3) knocked off Idaho for the first time in 10 tries this season by a 5-1 score at Qwest Arena. Michael Neal registered Idaho’s only goal in the losing effort.
The first period had the looks of a goaltenders’ duel before Stockton’s Judd Blackwater found a loose puck in front of the Steelheads’ net and fired the puck along the ice to beat Idaho’s Rejean Beauchemin at 19:18 of the opening period.
The Thunder extended its lead to 2-0 at 7:16 of the second period when Chris D’Alvise took a pass from Justin Dacosta, walked into the high slot, and fired a wrist shot top-shelf on Beauchemin.
Michael Neal tapped a puck home from the front of the net to put the Steelheads on the board and cut the Stockton lead in half at 8:35 of the second period; Marty Flichel and Mark Derlago assisted on Neal’s fourth of the season. Neal’s goal was the only one of the 22 Steelheads shots to beat Stockton’s Bryan Pitton in the middle frame.
Before the period could end, however, Jason Pitton scored his seventh of the season for Stockton, redirecting home a Dacosta point shot to put the Thunder back in front by a pair.
The third period saw the Thunder register two additional goals; one from D’Alvise at 6:23, and an empty-netter from Jean-Francois Caudron to secure the 5-1 win for the Thunder.