The Twin City Thunder continue to get strong goaltending.
Trey Miller earned his third shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory Friday against the South Shore Kings at the Foxboro Sports Center in Foxboro, Massachusetts, by making 26 saves.
“Trey played really well in net, made some timely saves,” Thunder coach Dan Hodge said.
The past five wins by Miller and fellow goaltender Christopher Jackson have included two shutouts and only one goal allowed in each of the other three games.
Jackson earned North Division Goalie of the Week honors for picking up two wins last week at the President’s Day Showcase.
Ben Portner scored 4:30 into the first period, beating Kings goalie Jacob Torgner (32 saves). Linemates Trace Norwell and Richard Davis picked up the assists.
“Torgner is a great goalie; it’s not easy to score on that kid,” Hodge said.
Miller helped the Thunder kill four South Shore power plays in the game. Twin City went 0 for 2 on the man-advantage.
Norwell added an insurance marker with about two minutes remaining in the game. He then added an empty-net goal in the final 30 seconds, with James Tatro and Blake Tierney providing the helpers.
Norwell has a team-leading 24 goals this season.
“Jimmy Tatro made a nice play to him, an unselfish play with the empty net, tapped over to him and Trace was able to put it in,” Hodge said.
Hodge added that Tatro has been a great addition to the lineup since joining the team in December, as he’s a player who likes to get under the skin of the opposition.
The Thunder (21-20-4, 46 points) are still in fifth place in the North Division. They are six points behind the Northern Cyclones and Boston Advantage, who both have 52 points to share third place. The Kings (24-16-5, 53 points) are in second.
The Thunder return to action at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Wednesday against the first-place New Hampshire Junior Monarchs at 1 p.m.
Twin City has five games remaining, all against teams ahead of them in the standings, and will need some help if they want to be one of the four teams that make the postseason in the North Division.
“We need to get as many points as we can and hope for some help,” Hodge said. “We are definitely standings watching. We know what’s ahead of us and we are playing under pressure. We are playing playoff hockey the rest of the way.”
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