Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
HOUSTON -- Darcy Loewen scored two of the Las Vegas' three first-period goals and Andre Racicot came 53 seconds short of recording his second shutout in five days as the Thunder posted a 3-1 IHL Southwest Division victory over the Houston Aeros at The Summit.
Sunday's triumph closed out the Thunder's three-games-in-three-days stretch, giving it a 2-1 record in that span. It defeated the Chicago Wolves at the Thomas & Mack Center Friday before losing to the Aeros there Saturday.
But it was apparent early that Las Vegas was intent on avenging that loss by continuing its latest trend of pelting opposing goaltenders, outshooting Houston 43-23. In its last four games, the Thunder have averaged 42.75 shots, while allowing an average of 22.75.
Martin Gendron notched his team-high 34th goal of the season, while shorthanded, on his first shot 1:08 into the first period. Patrice Lefebvre and Kerry Huffman assisted.
Later in the frame, Loewen tallied his 10th and 11th goals of the season to give the Thunder all the scoring it would need. Robert Dome and Darin Smith assisted on the first goal at 11:23, while Egor Bashkatov and Jeff Serowik assisted on the second exactly five minutes later.
With time winding down and the game in hand late in the third period, Las Vegas' lone objective was preserving Racicot's shutout bid. But with 53 seconds left to play, Rob Valicevic beat him. Racicot is now 3-2-1 with the Thunder and 5-6-2 on the season.
Racicot and his defense killed off eight Aeros power plays. The Thunder have now killed 28 straight.
Las Vegas is now 31-25-6 for 68 points, placing it fourth in the five-team Southwest. Houston, which ended an eight-game winning streak with the loss, fell to 35-23-6 for 76 points, still good enough for second place.
Long Beach remains first with 85 points.
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