Erick Lizon’s goal breaks deadlock, sends Thunder to victory

When a Thunder game remains scoreless for a while, it’s not usually because Erick Lizon hasn’t made his scoring prowess recognized.

Lizon, after all, doesn’t have much scoring prowess. He can affect the score by delivering forceful checks to opponents and challenging fellow enforcers to fights, but his 27 goals in 384 games correlate to a player who hasn’t swung many outcomes with a goal.

After just about every other Thunder player took a crack at breaking through against Quad City goalie Evan Mosher on Wednesday, it was Lizon who represented a last resort.

During a 2-on-1 opportunity, Lizon kept the puck as a second defender closed in, hitting the top of the net with his close-range shot and scoring the only even-strength goal in the Thunder’s 2-0 win at Intrust Bank Arena.

“Yeah, that’s new,” Lizon said. “But it’s good to pitch in and give something new than in the physical category.”

Lizon’s goal came about seven minutes into the third, and was one period later than many of Wichita’s best opportunities and Mosher’s most impressive saves. Ian Lowe’s empty-net, power-play goal with 61 seconds remaining was the game’s only other goal.

Good fortune and seemingly impenetrable skill highlighted Mosher’s second period, as he stretched for several stops but also saw one shot bounce off the crossbar and RG Flath miss as he stumbled on a wraparound chance facing a suddenly empty net.

Mosher regained his inaccessibility following Lizon’s goal, keeping the Mallards close despite Wichita’s 35-12 shot advantage, the Thunder’s second-largest discrepancy of the season in the ninth straight game it has outshot its opponent.

“The whole team was (frustrated),” Lizon said. “Every line was going in the second and third (periods), and a little bit in the first. (Assistant coach Jason) Duda came in before the third and said, ‘Guys, keep going. It’s going to go in.’

“Somehow, I’m the one who put it in. I don’t know how.”

Lizon found a way to break Mosher, even though he looked surprised to discover it. Lizon’s eyes widened as he recognized the occasion, and there was slight hesitation as he seemed to weigh the outcome of taking a shot or passing the puck.

The brief lack of clarity must have affected Mosher, too, because he was unable to get his glove up before the puck found the top right corner of the net. The indecisiveness washed away as Lizon recalled an identical circumstance.

“I had a 2-on-1 earlier in the game and I was trying to make a pass,” Lizon said. “I kind of screwed it up, so that time I knew right away, I saw a guy there and I said, ‘I’m shooting this one or (coach Kevin McClelland) is going to kill me.’ I just went to the net and tried to put it in the top corner.”

The Thunder (6-6-1-2) didn’t seem in too much danger of seeing Quad City score the tiebreaker since the Mallards never managed more than five shots in a period and took two in the second, both on power plays.

Wichita goalie Tyler Bunz earned his second consecutive shutout at home, and though the outcome was not as lopsided as the Thunder’s 6-0 win over Missouri five days ago, he didn’t have to exude as much effort as in that 27-save performance.

The defense in front of Bunz was at least equally responsible for the shutout. Defensemen such as Eric Meland and Michael Trebish routinely hustled in front of pucks so shots didn’t reach Bunz.

“There’s no relief in a tie or one-goal game,” Lizon said. “No matter if they have one shot or 55 shots, the next shot could go in and make a difference in the game. You just keep going.”

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Erick Lizon’s goal breaks deadlock, sends Thunder to victory."