BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Tri-City Storm (18-10-5) got their highest offensive output of the season on Sunday afternoon to defeat the Bloomington Thunder (12-16-5) 6-2 at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Nick Master led the way with two goals, while Tri-City also got tallies from Kevin Kerr, Mason Appleton, Jake Wahlin and Bobby Nardella.

Four goals in the opening period gave the Storm control of the game early on.

Kerr opened the scoring at 5:09 of the first, shooting the puck off a face-off win by Master. With traffic in front, the puck got behind Bloomington goaltender Logan Halladay to give Tri-City a 1-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, it was Appleton who got his own rebound and beat Halladay to make it 2-0. The Green Bay, Wis. native took a pass from forward Joel Herbert and went right to the net.

Herbert ended the game with two assists, and now has nine points on the season.

Only 11 seconds after Appleton’s tally, Wahlin forced Halladay from the game with the team’s third goal in the first 6:15 of the contest. Assists were credited to Conner Valesano and Wade Allison.

Later in the frame it was Nardella who found the back of the net to make it 4-0. The defenseman’s tally was his sixth on the season.

Master made it 5-0 in the second and struck again in the third for the team’s sixth goal of the night. The forward now has nine goals on the season which is second-best on the team.

Storm netminder Jared Rutledge made 23 saves in the win to pick up his fourth victory of the season.

Tri-City is now in third place in the Western Conference, moving ahead of Des Moines with the win.

The Storm return home for two contests in Kearney next weekend. On Friday night the Storm take on the Omaha Lancers at 7:30 p.m. before battling the Sioux Falls Stampede on Saturday at 7:05.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Nolan Aibel and Kyle Eastman along with defenseman Cameron Spicer…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

Tri-City – Kevin Kerr (Nick Master) 5:09
Tri-City – Mason Appleton (Joel Herbert) 6:04
Tri-City – Jake Wahlin (Conner Valesano, Wade Allison) 6:15
Tri-City – Bobby Nardella (Mason Appleton, Joel Herbert) 11:17

2nd Period

Tri-City – Nick Master (Matthew Freytag) 10:45

3rd Period
Bloomington – Matt Mendelson (Butrus Ghafari, Alec Mehr) 2:06
Tri-City – Nick Master (Garrett Gamez, Dan Labosky) 6:49
Bloomington – Jack Jenkins (Jeremy Davies, Tarek Baker) 18:12

PENALTIES

1st Period
Bloomington – Alec Mehr – (Slashing), 2 min, 0:21
Tri-City – Jake Wahlin – (Tripping), 2 min, 14:57
Tri-City – Jake Wahlin – (Roughing), 2 min, 14:57
Tri-City – Jake Wahlin – (Fighting), 5 min, 14:57
Tri-City – Jake Wahlin – (Fighting) (Misconduct), 10 min, 14:57
Bloomington – Shane Bednard – (Fighting) (Instigator), 2 min, 14:57
Bloomington – Shane Bednard – (Fighting), 5 min, 14:57
Bloomington – Shane Bednard – (Fighting) (Game Misconduct), 10 min, 14:57
Tri-City – Daniel Labosky – (Hooking), 2 min, 18:35

2nd Period

Tri-City – Tory Dello – (Interference), 2 min, 11:54
Tri-City – Gordi Myer – (Boarding), 2 min, 16:24
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 2 min, 19:13

3rd Period
Bloomington – Joshua Shellman – (Interference), 2 min, 11:45
Bloomington – Jeremy Davies – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 15:20

Power Play

Tri-City – 0/3

Bloomington – 0/5

Shots

Tri-City: 19, 6, 8 = Total: 33
Bloomington: 7, 7, 11 = Total: 25

Saves
Tri-City – Jared Rutledge – 23/25
Bloomington – Logan Halladay – 7/10, Hayden Lavigne – 20/23