At least this time, getting a shutout was good enough to also get Stockton Thunder goalie Olivier Roy a victory.
Roy earned his second shutout of the season on Sunday (Dec. 4), when he recorded 32 saves in beating the Ontario Reign 2-0 in front of 4,644 witnesses at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA.
In his previous shutout, Roy was unable to celebrate a victory because the Thunder failed to support him offensively and ended up losing to the Utah Grizzlies in a shootout on Nov. 4 at Stockton Arena. The Thunder (10-7-3) didn't leave Roy with much margin for error in Sunday's game, either, but third-period goals by Jesse Fratkin and Jordan Fulton proved to be all Roy needed to improve his record to 4-4-3.
"He definitely deserved this shutout," Thunder Coach Matt Thomas said by telephone after the game. "He was the best player on the ice."
Fratkin played a big part in making sure Roy's efforts weren't wasted. In addition to scoring the game's first goal not quite two minutes into the third period, Fratkin also was credited with an assist on Fulton's insurance goal, which came with just 1:31 remaining to play.
The late goal by Fulton provided a bit of breathing room for Roy, who was a runner-up for the ECHL Goaltender of the Month award for November, in which he was 3-1-2 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.09 and a save percentage of .935 (Philipp Grubauer of the South Carolina Stingrays won the award by going 6-1-1 with a shutout, a GAA of 1.73 and a save percentage of .935 in November).
Fratkin's goal came at 1:46 of the third period and snapped a scoreless streak of 130:06 for the Thunder, which had failed to produce a goal for more than six periods dating back to last Wednesday (Nov. 30). Cameron Abney and Ian O'Connor were credited with assists on the goal, which was Fratkin's third of the season.
Fulton's goal, his first of the season, capped an odd-man break and came off assists from Fratkin and Matt Foy. The goal iced the victory for the Thunder, which had been shut out 4-0 by the Reign at Stockton Arena two nights earlier.
"I'm proud of the way the guys responded to Friday's game." said Thomas, whose team is 7-1-1 when scoring first. "This was a good, hard-fought win."
Roy out-dueled Ontario goalie Chris Carrozzi, who made 25 saves in defeat. It was Carrozzi who blanked the Thunder in the Friday game at Stockton Arena.
With the victory, the Thunder again moved ahead of Ontario (10-7-2) and into second place in the ECHL Pacific Division standings. The Thunder trails the Las Vegas Wranglers by three points heading into a showdown against the Wranglers in Las Vegas on Tuesday night (Dec. 6).
The decision also continued an unusual Jekyll-and-Hyde scenario for the Thunder, which is 6-1-1 in its past eight road games but has won only three of eight games on home ice so far this season. Oddly enough, all four of Roy's victories and all three of Fratkin's goals have come at Ontario, where the Thunder is 4-2-1 this season.
The Thunder failed to score on four power-play opportunities, but countered that by being a perfect 5-for-5 in penalty-killing situations.
Tempers got the better of both teams as time wound down, and referee Mike McBain doled out 50 penalty minutes when things got ugly with only 19 seconds left in the game. Stockton's Garet Hunt and Ontario's Derek Couture each received double-minors for roughing and 10-minute misconducts for continuing an altercation, and Ontario Coach Jason Christie was hit with a game misconduct for abuse of officials to highlight the list of infractions.
The Thunder and Reign have faced off against each other eight times already this season and will meet again for games at Stockton Arena on Dec. 30-31.
