SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Powered by three third-period goals and 31 saves by goaltender Thomas Heemskerk, the San Francisco Bulls skated away with a 4-1 victory over the Stockton Thunder, in front of 6,024, Friday night at the Cow Palace. Chris Lawrence chipped in with three assists in the Bulls’ first home game in nearly a month.

Stockton’s Harrison Reed opened the scoring on the power play at 8:58 of the first period. A loose puck in the slot was inadvertently kicked in by Reed for his fourth goal of the season. The Bulls however were able to tie the game at one after consecutive penalties to Phil Mangan and Reed. Sacha Guimond leveled the game with his third goal of the season on a one-time slap shot off a pass from Chris Lawrence. Dean Ouellet also picked up an assist on the goal with 8:38 left in the opening period.

The second period was highlighted by strong goaltending by Heemskerk, who stopped 11 Thunder shots and Cody Reichard, who turned aside seven Bulls shots in the period. It remained 1-1 after 40 minutes.

In the third period, the Bulls took a one-goal advantage at 2:25 when Ouellet received a pass from Kelsey Wilson and wristed a shot past Reichard. Heemskerk earned an assist on Ouellet’s fifth goal of the season. The Bulls took a two-goal lead at 5:07, when Kevin Baker scored his fourth goal of the season on a rebound. Peter Sivak and Lawrence earned the assists. The Bulls continued to add on as Jordan Morrison scored a wraparound goal at with 9:23 left in regulation to give the Bulls a 4-1 lead. Lawrence registered his third assist of the game on Baker’s fifth of the season.

The Bulls return to action tomorrow night, when they host the Ontario Reign at 7:15 pm at the Cow Palace for Schedule Poster Giveaway Night, courtesy of stayingahead.com. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a colored schedule poster. Call up the Bulls office at 855-SF-BULLS to get your tickets to the game.

Bulletins: Newly signed Ryane Clowe of the San Jose Sharks served as a coach behind the bench for the game…Edmonton Oilers defenseman Theo Peckham made his Bulls home debut…Chris Lawrence has five points in four games with the Bulls…Kris Belan and Scott Langdon each picked up fighting majors…The Bulls improved to 2-1 on home ice…The Bulls won their first game when allowing the first goal.

Click here for tonight’s box score.

Tickets
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About the ECHL
The ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states.  Today, the league has 23 teams in 16 states. The ECHL celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2012-13 and is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League. The ECHL has had 234 players reach the NHL over the last seven seasons. It’s the primary developmental league for the NHL and the AHL. On opening day of the 2011-12 season, 83 former ECHL players were on NHL rosters. The ECHL teams are divided into the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. All teams play a 72-game schedule. For more information please visit http://www.echl.com/