The San Francisco Bulls had no answer for the Stockton Thunder’s Toni Rajala, who recorded a hat trick to carry the Thunder to a 6-4 ECHL victory on Monday in front of 12,881 hockey-deprived fans at HP Pavilion in San Jose. It was the first taste of pro hockey in the South Bay all season with the NHL stuck in a lockout.
Bulls goalie Thomas Heemskerk allowed five of Stockton’s first 20 shots to get by him before he was replaced by Taylor Nelson.
San Francisco’s goals came from Sacha Guimond, Kris Belan, Alex Tuckerman and Mikael Tam.
The Bulls are off until the weekend, when they play a home-and-home on Friday and Saturday against the Ontario Reign.
