Thunder rumble to win over Colts.

Byline: CHRIS HANSEN The Register-Guard

It seems the only thing able to stop Eugene from posting another couple of wins next weekend is the schedule itself.

Because since Nov. 2, no team has had any luck.

For the second night in a row, the Thunder came back from an early one-goal deficit to defeat Kootenai 4-1, completing the two-game sweep of the Colts at the Lane County Ice arena on Saturday.

It was the 14th straight victory and 15th in 16 games for the Northern-Pacific Hockey League's first-place Thunder (23-4-0). Kootenai dropped to 11-14-1.

Eugene needs to add just one more win to its streak to equal the number of victories the Thunder had all of last season. That will have to wait until Dec. 31, however, as the team embarks upon a two-week break before taking on the Portland Pioneers in a New Year's Eve home game.

"We have played very good hockey the first half of the season, and our record shows that," Thunder coach Kelly Hubbard said.

Kyle Gustafson, who leads the Thunder with 34 points, erased the Colts' 1-0 lead with his ninth goal of the season six minutes into the first period, and Adam Seward added the game-winning score with two minutes left before the first break for Eugene. Tim West and Powell Gallagher each added an insurance goal in the final six minutes of the game

Jeff Mushen, getting only his seventh start in goal this season, had a stellar night against the league's most prolific scoring team. He stopped 22 shots and allowed only an early first-period goal that came on a Kootenai power play.

Along with regular goalkeeper Martin Stehl's 2-1 victory on Friday night, the Thunder defense held a Kootenai team averaging 5.1 goals per game to two goals in two games.

"Our defense just makes it real easy for us; it's a lot of fun to play behind these guys," said Mushen, who improved to 6-1 and lowered his goals-against average to 2.42.

After forward Mark Demmer was sent to the penalty box for tripping with 2:19 gone, Kootenai needed just 35 seconds to benefit from its five-on-four advantage, as Colin Reed sent in a shot from the blue line that was deflected by teammate Scott Crabtree behind Mushen to Patrick Zmuda, who flicked it into the back of the net.

But it took all of three minutes for the Thunder to tie the score, as Gustafson nudged a pass from Mark Demmer past Kootenai goalie Zack Cardell at 5:07.

Seward notched his eighth goal of the season with 1:55 left in the first period when he took a pass from Eric Slaughter and slapped it in to give the Thunder the lead.

The play by both teams during the entire second period and much of the third did nothing for either's overall offensive numbers but added heavily to the combined 138 penalty minutes racked up by the teams.

With 5:43 left to play, West added to the Thunder's lead with a slap shot off a pass by Jake Trost. It was West's third goal of the season. Two minutes later, Gallagher scored into the top-right corner of the net.

It was the ninth goal of the season for Gallagher, who has only been with the team for 12 games.

"We finally played better tonight and got a total team effort," said Hubbard, who had been disappointed with his team's effort the past four games. "(Friday) night we were just out for a skate. Tonight, we got a little dirty, and for us to win, we have to play hard-nosed hockey."