Gorillas edge Colorado in thriller, prepare for Lubbock
December 22, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
AMARILLO, TX – It took the 22nd game of the season, but the Amarillo Gorillas finally scored their first shorthanded goal of the season. That combined with outstanding goaltending from Steve Briere and the game winner from Dave Rattray lifted the Amarillo Gorillas to a 2-1 thrilling win over the Colorado Eagles on Tuesday night at The Jungle in the Amarillo Civic Center.
It was the Gorillas 11th win of the season and moved them into a tie for fifth place in the Southern Conference and still in sole possession of third place in the Southwest Division.
The Eagles had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes on a power play, but the Gorillas erased that in the middle stanza. The shorthanded goal came as a result of a great steel by forward Ben Gustavson who took the puck off of a Colorado defensemanÂ’s stick and fired a shot on goal. Kelly Miller scooped up the loose rebounded and tapped the puck into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
Five minutes later the Gorillas would take the lead after some great forechecking from Dave Rattray and Scott Wray. Rattray took the puck along the boards away from the Colorado defenseman and threw the puck in front of the net. It went off a defenseman, and goaltender Tyler Weiman, making the score 2-1.
In the third period the Gorillas played sound defensive hockey inside their own end and used a tenacious fore check to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard. Goatlender Steve Briere looked solid make some quality stops to keep his team in the lead.
The Gorillas play their final game before Christmas tomorrow night (Thursday) when they travel to Lubbock to face the Cotton Kings at Lubbock Municipal Coliseum at 7 p.m. Fans can tune into the game on 1440 AM The Score beginning with the FarmerÂ’s Insurance Group Warm Up Show at 6:40 p.m.
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