By Brian Tosti
BLOOMINGTON – Make it 11 of 12. That’s what the Bloomington Thunder have won down the stretch after taking a 5-1 win over the Madison Capitols in front of 2,124 fans Saturday night. Bloomington is now (35-18-3-1) having won four straight games and now have seven straight wins on home ice. The team has moved up to second place in the Eastern Conference while Madison is (24-24-5-3). The top scorers cashed in for the Thunder again as they cashed in four three power play goals in the game.
As if the Bloomington Thunder’s leading goal scorer was satisfied with beating an organizational high this season, he has now begun to shatter it. Logan Lambdin (Michigan State University) couldn’t be stopped in the first period with a few chances, but none were better than an individual effort on a wrap around. The leading scorer was able to beat Ryan Edquist (University of Minnesota) to the far side post for the opening goal of the night. Edquist would not make it through the final buzzer, suffering the loss on 26 saves.
The Thunder goaltender on the other hand picked up his 26th win of the year after stopping 30 shots on the night. Bloomington’s netminders has now won 11 of his last 13 starts in goal and came up with 12 stops in the first period. Late in the game, Lavigne made a few crucial stops to keep the Capitols from a late comeback.
Later in the game the number one star of the game took his second of the night. On one of three power play chances, the Thunder cashed in for Lambdin’s 28th goal of the year. Jeremy Davies (Northeastern University) gave the puck to his partner Brogan Rafferty (Quinnipiac University) who came down the right wing. Feeding the Michigan State commit on the trailing play, Lambdin shot the puck to the back of the net with less than two minutes to play in the period.
Bloomington’s all-time scoring leader has broken the record of 16 goals in a season and now has 38 career USHL goals with the Thunder. His helpers in the first and second raked in three assists each in the game to take the number two and three stars.
The Thunder captain Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) added to the offense to begin the third period. Netting his 21st of the year a little over a minute into the period, Slaker roofed the puck over the shoulder of Edquist from almost the goal line. The goal put the thunder up 3-1 and began a three-goal period to end the night.
Bloomington only had three power plays on the night but the number one group on the man advantage in the USHL took advantage of all three. Patrick Curry ended the night with two goals on special teams to take his 16th and 17th goals of the year. The first goal ricochet off a defender off Curry’s one time shot to beat Edquist and end his night. Coming in relief was Daniel Lebedeff who faced four shots, but couldn’t stop curry from his fourth multi-goal game of the season.
The lone goal from the game for Madison was on a one timed shot by their hottest scorer. In 20 games Dmitri Buinitsky has six goals and 15 assists, recording the tying goal in the second. His goal would not be enough as the Thunder shut down their sophomore season counterpart for the third time this year.
Bloomington hits the road for two of their final three games. The trip Friday is to Chicago to take on the Steel in their fifth meeting of the season. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. as Bloomington will try to hang onto their home ice advantage during a one game weekend.
NEXT HOME GAME: Saturday, April 9th – 7 p.m. – Fan appreciation night features many benefits for the Bloomington Thunder fans. Come out to the game against the Chicago Steel and grab prizes and giveaways handed out all night. One lucky season ticketholder will also win two free season tickets for the upcoming 2016-17 season. From 6-7 there will be buy one get one free hot dogs available at the game and kids 12 & under get a free hot dog when they enter the building. Don’t forget to take part in a post-game jersey’s off our back auction immediately following the game. For tickets and information please call the Thunder office at (309) 434-2980.
