Thunder rally to tie series with Aces

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Stockton Thunder evened the series with an overtime win, with a final score of 3-2. The first period remained scoreless, but fairly equal at the Sullivan Arena before 5,561 fans.The Aces would draw the first goal of the night, when Brandon Gentile found the net on a rebound that went past Olivier Roy at 9:14 into the second period. Chris Langkow and Ryan Cruthers had an assist on the goal.  Capitalizing on the momentum, Nick Mazzolini took advantage of a screen that allowed a shot to sneak past Roy giving Alaska the 2-0 lead at 10:05. Wes Goldie had the assist on the shot. But only a few minutes later, Stockton would begin their come from behind.   At the 13:07 mark, Max Campbell took a feed from Kevin Baker slipping the puck in Gerald Coleman’s five-hole to close the gap. Stockton took advantage of the new found energy to bury a loose puck at the 15:20 mark, to send the teams into the intermission tied at two-apiece. Both teams returned from the break with renewed energy, but Coleman and Roy held fast in the net, leading to sudden-death overtime. Each goaltender made tremendous saves, despite the Aces out shooting the Thunder in regulation 25-39. As the extra period began there was a short delay, while issues with the ice melting were handled.  When the extra period finally began, it was apparent both teams wanted this game.  But Chris D’Alvise would be the hero for the night, as he beat Coleman glove side for the game winning goal.This game marked the first time these two teams have faced one another in overtime.  This is the sixth consecutive overtime game winning goal, and D’Alvise’s second. The teams will travel to the Stockton Arena for game three on Wednesday.
Contact the writer at   Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com   All photos by Jack Lima at   Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com