Tim Boron snuffs Victoria's Ash Goldie in the shootout's 5th round for the victory. (photo by George Steckler)

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THUNDER CROWDS OUT SALMON KINGS
Thunder engineer third period comeback in front of fourth sellout of season

 
STATS: Box score
AUDIO: Tom Zanoski's game-tying power-play goal in the 3rd
AUDIO: Ryan MacMurchy's shootout winning goal and Tim Boron's save

STOCKTON, Calif. - Goaltender Tim Boron made 36 saves, including a 5-for-5 effort in a shootout to lift the Stockton Thunder (26-39-3, 55 points) to a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout win over the Victoria Salmon Kings before the fourth sellout crowd of the season of 9,737 at Stockton Arena in the home regular season finale on Saturday night.

The Thunder maintained its eighth place tie in the National Conference with the Phoenix RoadRunners and reduced its magic number to seven points to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth (outright).  

The Thunder struck first on a tip-in goal by Lance Monych at the 4:42 time mark, his 28th goal of the season, assisted by Joel Stepp and Tim Verbeek. On a delayed penalty call, Verbeek set up Stepp at the right circle, who fired a shot through traffic that Monych re-directed past the blocker of Victoria goaltender Julien Ellis.

Stockton ended the period outshooting the Salmon Kings 14-9 and stayed to a one-goal margin resulting from Ellis' point-blank save on Thunder center Geoff Paukovich, who stoned the rookie prospect with a glove save on Paukovich's bid from the mid-slot.

Victoria scored just 1:02 into the second period on Marc-Andre Bernier's 21^st goal of the year, with the assists coming from Ash Goldie, and Matt Kelly. Bernier took Goldie's rinkwide pass at the left circle and unleashed a 30-foot snapshot from the left circle that beat Boron under the crossbar. 

Patrick Coulombe's eighth goal of the year hiked Victoria to its only lead of the game at 2-1 at the 11:37 mark, taking a center by Wes Goldie from behind the net and netting a one-timer to Boron's glove side.

Ellis kept the Thunder at-bay with 13 saves in the second period.

The Thunder mounted their comeback with rookie Tom Zanoski's power-play goal with 7:17 left in regulation, tying the game at 2-2. Zanoski corralled Brandon Schwartz's feed in the slot and lifted a smooth backhander over the glove of Ellis for his 11^th goal of the season.

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Ryan MacMurchy (19) beats Victoria goaltender Julien Ellis in the shootout's 5th round. (photo by George Steckler)

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Both teams played to a scoreless overtime as Boron stopped five shots in the extra session, including a wide-open blast by Ash Goldie at the left circle. Ellis helped pushed the game into the shootout stages by thwarting a 4-on-3 Thunder power-play, which included a right-pad save on Brian Lee's blast from the right point while traffic pre-occupied Ellis at the top of the crease.

Ryan MacMurchy, who was unavailable for the final 14 minutes of regulation after serving a two-minute slashing minor, two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct and 10-minute misconduct, scored the only goal of shootout play in the fifth round with a forehand bid to Ellis' glove side. Boron sealed the game by denying Ash Goldie's wrist shot from the right circle in the bottom of the fifth round.

NOTES: The Thunder passed out its third annual team awards in a post-game ceremony at center-ice, giving honors to Brandon Schwartz (Most Valuable Player), Brian Lee (Best Defenseman) and Mark Adamek (Unsung Hero) ... the Thunder missed the services of Les Reaney (healthy scratch), Phil Cole (injured reserve), Beau Geisler (injured reserve) and Ryan Geris (injured reserve) ... the Thunder finished its 2007-08 regular season home record at 16-19-1 and is now 7-10-3 in the lifetime series against Victoria.

The Thunder embarks on the regular season's final four-game roadtrip beginning Tuesday, April 1 against the Fresno Falcons, starting at 7:00 p.m. from Save Mart Center . The game can be heard live on radio at 1420 KSTN and online at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/, courtesy of B2 Networks. 

The Thunder has led the ECHL in attendance for two consecutive seasons and drew 239,337 fans to Stockton Arena in 2007-08. Season tickets for 2008-09 and 2008 Kelly Cup Playoff ticket packages are now on sale and individual ticket information for the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs will be announced soon. 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 - 30 Tim Boron
2. STK - 20 Lance Monych
3. STK - 19 Ryan MacMurchy

Tim Boron snuffs Victoria's Ash Goldie in the shootout's 5th round for the victory. (photo by George Steckler)

---

THUNDER CROWDS OUT SALMON KINGS
Thunder engineer third period comeback in front of fourth sellout of season

 
STATS: Box score
AUDIO: Tom Zanoski's game-tying power-play goal in the 3rd
AUDIO: Ryan MacMurchy's shootout winning goal and Tim Boron's save

STOCKTON, Calif. - Goaltender Tim Boron made 36 saves, including a 5-for-5 effort in a shootout to lift the Stockton Thunder (26-39-3, 55 points) to a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout win over the Victoria Salmon Kings before the fourth sellout crowd of the season of 9,737 at Stockton Arena in the home regular season finale on Saturday night.

The Thunder maintained its eighth place tie in the National Conference with the Phoenix RoadRunners and reduced its magic number to seven points to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth (outright).  

The Thunder struck first on a tip-in goal by Lance Monych at the 4:42 time mark, his 28th goal of the season, assisted by Joel Stepp and Tim Verbeek. On a delayed penalty call, Verbeek set up Stepp at the right circle, who fired a shot through traffic that Monych re-directed past the blocker of Victoria goaltender Julien Ellis.

Stockton ended the period outshooting the Salmon Kings 14-9 and stayed to a one-goal margin resulting from Ellis' point-blank save on Thunder center Geoff Paukovich, who stoned the rookie prospect with a glove save on Paukovich's bid from the mid-slot.

Victoria scored just 1:02 into the second period on Marc-Andre Bernier's 21^st goal of the year, with the assists coming from Ash Goldie, and Matt Kelly. Bernier took Goldie's rinkwide pass at the left circle and unleashed a 30-foot snapshot from the left circle that beat Boron under the crossbar. 

Patrick Coulombe's eighth goal of the year hiked Victoria to its only lead of the game at 2-1 at the 11:37 mark, taking a center by Wes Goldie from behind the net and netting a one-timer to Boron's glove side.

Ellis kept the Thunder at-bay with 13 saves in the second period.

The Thunder mounted their comeback with rookie Tom Zanoski's power-play goal with 7:17 left in regulation, tying the game at 2-2. Zanoski corralled Brandon Schwartz's feed in the slot and lifted a smooth backhander over the glove of Ellis for his 11^th goal of the season.

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Ryan MacMurchy (19) beats Victoria goaltender Julien Ellis in the shootout's 5th round. (photo by George Steckler)

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Both teams played to a scoreless overtime as Boron stopped five shots in the extra session, including a wide-open blast by Ash Goldie at the left circle. Ellis helped pushed the game into the shootout stages by thwarting a 4-on-3 Thunder power-play, which included a right-pad save on Brian Lee's blast from the right point while traffic pre-occupied Ellis at the top of the crease.

Ryan MacMurchy, who was unavailable for the final 14 minutes of regulation after serving a two-minute slashing minor, two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct and 10-minute misconduct, scored the only goal of shootout play in the fifth round with a forehand bid to Ellis' glove side. Boron sealed the game by denying Ash Goldie's wrist shot from the right circle in the bottom of the fifth round.

NOTES: The Thunder passed out its third annual team awards in a post-game ceremony at center-ice, giving honors to Brandon Schwartz (Most Valuable Player), Brian Lee (Best Defenseman) and Mark Adamek (Unsung Hero) ... the Thunder missed the services of Les Reaney (healthy scratch), Phil Cole (injured reserve), Beau Geisler (injured reserve) and Ryan Geris (injured reserve) ... the Thunder finished its 2007-08 regular season home record at 16-19-1 and is now 7-10-3 in the lifetime series against Victoria.

The Thunder embarks on the regular season's final four-game roadtrip beginning Tuesday, April 1 against the Fresno Falcons, starting at 7:00 p.m. from Save Mart Center . The game can be heard live on radio at 1420 KSTN and online at http://www.stocktonthunder.com/, courtesy of B2 Networks. 

The Thunder has led the ECHL in attendance for two consecutive seasons and drew 239,337 fans to Stockton Arena in 2007-08. Season tickets for 2008-09 and 2008 Kelly Cup Playoff ticket packages are now on sale and individual ticket information for the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs will be announced soon. 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 - 30 Tim Boron
2. STK - 20 Lance Monych
3. STK - 19 Ryan MacMurchy