Thunder earns pair of mid-week wins

STOCKTON, Calif. – Thunder defeated the visiting Las Vegas Wranglers in back-to-back mid-week games, with a 3-1 win followed by a 1-0 shutout.    Stockton’s goaltender Cody Reichard was in the net for both games and the shutout marked his first professional shutout.   The Thunder is now 13-5-2-1, with 29 points, tied with Ontario for first in the Pacific Division.
Reichard made 39 saves in the 3-1 win, followed up by 38 saves the following night.
Tuesday’s game snapped a four game losing streak for the Thunder, with goals from recent returnee Toni Rajala, Phil Mangan and Harrison Reed, all in the second period.   Rajala played in his first match since his return from Oklahoma City.   The solo goal from the Wranglers came off the stick of Chris Francis in the third period, but was not enough to force a momentum change.
Wednesday’s shutout was a hard fought match between both teams.   Play was sluggish at first, but increased in aggression as it progressed.   The Wranglers were zero for five on the power play, while the thunder’s lone goal was scored on a power play.
Rajala continued his 13-game scoring streak, the ECHLs best this season, with his goal at the 2:39 marker of the second period.
Wrangler’s Joe Fallon took both losses, with 22 saves in both games.   The Thunder improved to 3-0-1 against Las Vegas for the season.
Both teams will travel to Las Vegas for their third game in a row on Saturday, December 8.   If the last two games are any indication, Saturday is destined to be an exciting match.
Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com
Contact the Photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com