Late goal lifts Thunder past RoughRiders

Posted on November 5, 2016

By WJBC Staff

CEDAR RAPIDS, Ia. – The first sweep of the season didn’t come easy, but the Thunder scored in the final three minutes of regulation to top the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 4-2 on Saturday night at Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Tied at two in the waning minutes of the third, Mitchell Mattson picked an opportune moment to get his first goal of the season. The Calgary Flames prospect jammed a loose puck past RoughRiders goaltender Drew Deridder to put the Thunder (5-6-2-0, 12 pts) ahead 3-2 with just 2:17 left in the game.

Jake Durflinger added an empty netter, his second goal of the weekend, to ice the win with 11 seconds remaining.

Mattson’s late goal wasn’t the only late offense in the game. With the Thunder down 2-1 in the final minute of the second period, Vlad Dzhioshvili potted his third goal of the weekend to knot the score at two. It was the sixth goal in as many games for Dzhioshvili, who had gone scoreless through the first six games of the season.

Following Dzhioshvili’s goal, the Thunder defense clamped down the rest of the way on Cedar Rapids. Bloomington yielded just three shots in the final period, and goaltender Logan Halladay stopped all three. Halladay finished the game with 19 saves to earn his second-straight victory.

For the second straight night, rookie Calen Kiefiuk (University of Michigan) scored to give the Thunder the initial lead in the game. After the RoughRiders turned the puck over in their own zone, Kiefiuk pounced on the loose puck in the low slot and slipped it past goaltender Drew Deridder at the 15:33 mark of the first.

The RoughRiders tied the game at one less than a minute later with a power-play goal by Scott Perunovich. TJ Walsh had the other goal for the RoughRiders in the game.

The 21 shots allowed by Bloomington were the fewest it had allowed in a game so far this season.

Bloomington continues a five-game road stretch with a two-game series in Youngstown next weekend. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. CT on both Friday and Saturday night against the Phantoms.

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