GENEVA — Bloomington scored the first goal of the game, but the Chicago Steel scored back-to-back power-play goals in the first period to top the Thunder, 3-1.
Logan Halladay had another strong start in goal for the Thunder (1-2-1-0), but Chicago netminder Tommy Nappier held the Thunder offense to one goal to keep the Steel (4-0-0-0) undefeated.
In the second meeting in as many weeks, the Thunder and Steel played in another tight contest on Saturday night, which came on the heels of an overtime win for the Steel last Friday in Bloomington. Nappier, who held Bloomington to just one goal last Friday, again yielded just one goal, stopping 28 of 29 shots.
The lone goal for Bloomington came right away in the first period on the power play to get the Thunder off to a quick start. Tarek Baker jammed home a rebound from just outside the crease to get Bloomington on the board only 1:05 into the opening frame.
But the Steel struck twice on the power play in just a 1:03 span near the middle of the first period to take the lead for good. Johnny Walker scored on a five-on-three power play for the Steel to tie the game at the 10:12 mark. Reggie Lutz then added a five-on-four power play tally at the 11:15 mark to give Chicago the lead for good.
Both goaltenders settled in after that, as neither allowed another goal the rest of the way. The only other goal for Chicago came with Halladay pulled for an extra attacker with 1:47 remaining in the third period.
Halladay finished with a season-high 37 saves for Bloomington and has a .957 save percentage over his last three games.
The Thunder return home to take on the Steel next Friday night at the Coliseum, the third time the Thunder will have faced the Steel in four games.
