Amarillo drops nail-biter to Arizona, 4-2

March 12, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release


Prescott Valley, AZ 3/11/09 - Despite a late comeback, the Arizona Sundogs held off the Amarillo Gorillas Wednesday night, 4-2, at the Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.

The opening period proved to be an exciting one, as the two teams combined for 31 shots in the first twenty minutes. Goaltending turned out to be the story at both ends, with Arizona's Marco Emond and Amarillo's Mike Gorman both having a solid period between the pipes. Early in the period, Gorman robbed Arizona's Kyle Hood on the doorstep, sprawling across the crease to keep the Sundogs off the board. Later, on a Gorillas' power play, Emond made a similar save on Amarillo's Austin Sutter, diving across the net mouth and deflecting the shot wide. The Arizona netminder would come through in similar fashion during an Amarillo two-man advantage, handling two blistering Sam Ftorek slap shots with his blocker and keeping the Gorillas scoreless in the first period.

The scoreless tie would be broken with just 1:09 remaining in the first. With the Sundogs on a 5-on-4 man-advantage, Joel Irving deflected a Chris Bartolone shot by Gorman, putting the hosts up 1-0 to conclude the first period. Gorman entered the first intermission having stopped 17 of 18 Sundogs shots, while Emond turned aside all 13 chances he faced.

Amarillo would find a way to solve Emond mid-way through the second period, though, when Mark Carragher stole a clearing attempt behind the Sundogs' net. Carragher centered the puck to Travis Lisabeth, who fired a shot through Emond's legs to tie the game 1-1 7:26 into the middle period. The tie would be short-lived, though, as Irving took a cross-ice pass from Bartolone and fired it by a sliding Gorman to put Arizona back on top, 2-1. The goal, which came on the power play, was Irving's 34th on the season. Despite a late 5-on-3 power play, the Gorillas failed to get another shot by Emond in the second period and were 0-for-6 on the man-advantage after 40 minutes-as such, the visitors skated into the locker room down by one.

Arizona would pad their lead early in the third period, with A.J. MacLean deflecting a Matt Hanson shot past a screened Mike Gorman just 1:49 into the frame. Gorman kept Amarillo within two for the remainder of the period, stopping 15 consecutive shots to conclude the game.

With the score at 3-1, Amarillo fought to draw closer but were shut down by Emond for the balance of the period. With the Gorillas down a man late, Jake Morissette took the puck into the Gorillas' offensive zone and fed Austin Sutter, who scored on a slap shot past Emond. The goal, coming with just 28 seconds remaining in the game, would bring Amarillo back to within one.

Despite being shorthanded, the Gorillas were able to earn an offensive zone faceoff with just 9.9 seconds left on the clock. Gordon Bell won the faceoff back to the point, but the Gorillas could not control the bouncing puck, which skipped onto the stick of Kyle Hood. Hood would shoot down the ice and tally an empty net goal with less than one second remaining on the clock.

Gorman (10-16-1) stopped 41 of 44 shots faced in the loss, while Amarillo (17-38-3) went 0-for-9 with the man-advantage. Arizona, in the meantime, scored on three of their eight power play opportunities. Emond stopped 33 of 35 Amarillo shots on net to earn his 17th victory of the season.

The Gorillas will be back in action next against the Laredo Bucks at the Amarillo Civic Center on Friday. Opening face-off is scheduled for 7:05 PM Central Time, with the Gorillas wearing specialty Harley-Davidson-themed jerseys presented by Tripp's Harley-Davidson in Amarillo. In addition, the "Silver Dollar Tour" comes to an end Friday night, as the 2003 100th Anniversary Edition Harley-Davidson Road King could be awarded to one lucky participant. For more information, or to get tickets for the game, please call the Gorillas' front office at (806) 242-PUCK (7825).

The AMARILLO GORILLAS are celebrating their seventh season in "The Jungle" by offering special ticket prices to groups and parties! Call the Gorillas ticketing office at (806) 242-PUCK (7825) for more information, or drop by the Gorillas' new office at 901 S. Buchanan in downtown Amarillo.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2009


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