Sundogs Drop Third-Straight, Fall 3-1 to First Place Odessa
Published on December 2, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - In one of two games in the Central Hockey League on Tuesday night, the Arizona Sundogs and Odessa Jackalopes skated in a battle of the Southwest Division's top two clubs at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, Texas. After falling behind 1-0 after 40 minutes of play, Arizona pulled even early in the third before eventually falling 3-1 to the Southwest Division leaders. Adam Perry's six-game goal scoring streak came to an end but with an assist on the Sundogs' lone tally, the rookie forward extended his point streak to seven games, having tallied at least a point in each game he has played in for Arizona since being assigned by the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage.
The two division foes battled to a scoreless tie through the first 20 minutes of play Tuesday night. Arizona received three power play opportunities in the period including a 35-second 5-on-3 advantage and Odessa received two man advantage chances but neither club was able to capitalize. While shorthanded following a Rob Lehtinen interference call, rookie forward Peter Cartwright picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated in 1-on-0 on Odessa's Juha Toivonen but the Finnish netminder turned aside the shorthanded attempt. After making a series of saves while again shorthanded at the 16:34 mark, Toivonen left the ice with an apparent knee injury. Backup goaltender Alexandre Vincent came on in relief making five saves to close out the period. Shots were an even 8-8 between the two teams in the opening frame.
Half of the second period would expire before the scoreless tie would be broken. While on their fourth power play chance of the game, Odessa converted to take a 1-0 lead on a Philippe Plante rebound chance. Mike Ramsay and Dominic Leveille were credited with assists on the play as Plante slapped the loose puck past goaltender Marco Emond following Ramsay's initial shot on net for the period's lone tally. After an even first period, the Jacaklopes outshot the Sundogs by a 12-8 mark in the second for a two-period 20-16 advantage.
Arizona evened the score with a power play goal of their own five minutes into the third period. The Sundogs immediately capitalized following a five-minute boarding call to Ryan Palmer as Tyler Liebel recorded his fourth goal of the year just 17 seconds into the major penalty. Joel Irving and Adam Perry tallied helpers on the equalizer as Liebel banged a rebound past Vincent to pull his club even at 1-1. Odessa regained a one-goal lead seconds after the Palmer penalty expired on a strong individual effort by Jeff Pierce. Pierce settled a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated in 1-on-1 before stopping behind the Sundogs goal and sending a centering pass to a trailing Brian Swiniarski between the circles. Swiniarski slammed a one-time shot past Emond for his ninth of the season to give his club a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to play in regulation. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Emond was pulled in favor of an extra attacker but off the ensuing face off, defenseman Dave Van Drunen sent a shot the length of the ice to find the empty net and give his club a 3-1 victory.
Emond turned aside 23 of 25 shots in the loss while Vincent came on in relief of the injured starter Toivonen and blocked 16 of 17 shots to collect the win. Toivonen stopped three shots before leaving the ice in the first period. Both teams finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage.
With the loss, Arizona falls to 8-11-1 on the year but remains in second place in the Southwest Division, two points ahead of third place New Mexico. The Sundogs continue their season-long seven-game road trip and travel to Corpus Christi for a Thursday night matchup against the IceRays. Game time is set for 6:05pm (Arizona time). Thursday's game can be heard via tape-delay on 96.7 FM The Wolf, the Official Broadcast Home of the Arizona Sundogs.
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