Stockton Thunder forward Garet Hunt may or may not have scored a hat trick on Friday night (Feb. 3), but there was no question about the end result his efforts helped produce.
After falling behind early, the Thunder went on a scoring spree and buried the Idaho Steelheads 7-2 before a crowd of 6,170 at Stockton Arena. The score sheet for the game gives Hunt credit for three goals, but Thunder Coach Matt Thomas is expected to have one of those goals officially switched to Chris Doyle by the ECHL office on Monday.
The goal in question came with slightly more than three minutes left in the second period, when the Thunder scored on a power play to open up a 6-1 lead. Doyle fired a shot from the right wing and it was unclear whether the puck was deflected by Hunt on its way past Idaho goalie Bryan Hince. Hunt originally was credited with the goal, but then it was changed to Doyle before eventually being given back to Hunt.
After the game, Doyle was perfectly willing to let Hunt have the goal, saying that Hunt tipped the shot. Hunt didn't say one way or the other until after Doyle volunteered that the shot was deflected. Thomas, however, felt the goal rightfully belonged to Doyle after viewing a replay and indicated he would have the score sheet amended accordingly.
Still, Thomas made it clear he was impressed with Hunt’s performance.
“He was great all night,” Thomas said of Hunt. “No matter how many goals he gets credit for, he played a great game.”
Regardless of which player ultimately ends up with credit for the Hunt / Doyle goal, the Thunder (23-18-4) continued a hot roll and won for the fifth time in a row and eighth time in the past nine games. The five-game winning streak is a season best for the Thunder, which faces Idaho again Saturday night at Stockton Arena, where the Thunder has won six straight home games.
“I think we’ve really kind of come together over the last little bit,” Thomas said. “I thought we played a real strong game, especially after giving up that (first) goal.”
In addition to possibly deserving credit for the lone power-play goal of the game, Doyle, a runner-up for the ECHL Rookie of the Month award for January, also had assists on two other goals for the Thunder. Kevin Baker chipped in a goal and two assists for Stockton, which also got goals from Ian O’Connor, Mike Little and Matt Foy. Colten Hayes recorded three assists for the Thunder and teammate Jesse Fratkin had a pair of assists. Foy also had a multi-point game as he picked up an assist to go along with his goal. Jacob Cepis and Chad Nehring scored the Idaho goals.
The Steelheads (20-20-5) scored the game’s first goal, when Cepis capitalized on a turnover by Thunder defenseman Sebastian Owuya in the Stockton zone and beat Thunder goalie Alex Stalock on a short breakaway barely more than five minutes into the first period. Hunt created a 1-1 tie when he scored his first goal of the game midway through the first period, and O’Connor and Baker added goals within the next three minutes to stake the Thunder to a 3-1 lead by the first intermission. Baker’s goal chased starting Idaho goalie Jerry Kuhn to the bench in favor of Hince.
The Thunder put three more goals on the scoreboard in the second period before Nehring’s goal made the score 6-2 at the second break. Foy scored the only goal of the third period to account for Stockton’s final margin of victory.
“I think we’ve got a little bit of momentum right now and we’re just rolling with it,” said Hunt, who had never registered a hat trick in his professional career entering play Friday. “We’re chasing teams in the standings and guys are really believing in here.”
Stalock, a San Jose Sharks prospect, turned in a 29-save performance to improve his record to 5-0-0 since joining the Thunder on an injury rehabilitation assignment. Stalock had been expected to be re-assigned to the Worcester (Mass.) Sharks of the American Hockey League before Friday’s game, but plans changed when San Jose sent Antero Niittymaki down to Worcester instead of bringing up Stalock after former Thunder goalie Tyson Sexsmith was called up to San Jose.
By winning, the fifth-place Thunder opened up a five-point cushion over the Steelheads in the ECHL’s Western Conference. The Thunder also pulled to within one point of the fourth-place Colorado Eagles and to within four points of the third-place Ontario Reign.
