Brahmas Strike Early to Hand 'Dogs 6-4 Loss

January 16, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas - A trio of early strikes by the host Texas Brahmas to open the first, second and third periods doomed the Arizona Sundogs Saturday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre as Arizona dropped its second-straight contest, 6-4.

Chris Bartolone, Jon Landry and Konrad Reeder each extended their current scoring streaks to four games in the loss with Bartolone leading the way with four points, assisting on each of the team's four markers.

Doug Groenestege suffered the loss with 21 saves in his first start with the Arizona Sundogs. The Sundogs fell to 10-14-2 when outshooting their opponent, holding a 41-27 advantage in shots in the loss.

Elias Godoy backed his club to an early 1-0 lead Saturday night connecting for his fourth of the season from James Hiebert and Jason Deitsch 1:16 into the contest.

Groenestege left the crease to play the puck allowing Godoy to convert on a Hiebert centering feed from behind the cage.

Matt Burto reclaimed a one-goal lead for the Brahmas just 19 seconds into the middle frame from Justin Kinnunen and Tyler Skworchinski.

Texas stretched its lead to 5-2 just six seconds into the third period as former NHLer Nathan Perrott netted his second goal since joining the Brahmas as defenseman Mike Nesdill slipped after a period-opening faceoff win by Rob Lehtinen.

Perrott converged on the loose puck, firing a slap shot stick side past Groenestege from the top of the near circle.

Knotting the score at one heading into the first intermission, Torren Delforte recorded his team-leading 16th of the year with 45.2 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

With possession, Delforte circled out of the offensive zone and left a pass for Bartolone near center ice before re-entering the zone and shelfing a wrist shot over the glove of Joe Palmer from the near circle.

Texas opened a 4-1 lead on the strength of three straight in the second period's first 13 minutes before the Sundogs cut the deficit back to two on Kevin Gardner's 14th of the year.

Godoy picked up his second point of the contest assisting on A.J. Gale's marker at the 4:47 mark to make it 3-1 in favor of the Brahmas before combining again with Hiebert and Deitsch for his second goal of the night and a 4-1 lead at 13:05.

Bartolone collected his second helper of the game and sixth point in his last four games 32 seconds later, setting up Gardner for his 12th point in his last 11 games.

Arizona held a 22-19 advantage in shots after two periods of play despite trailing by a pair of goals through 40 minutes of action.

Grant Jacobsen pushed his club's lead to 6-2 at the third period's 2:01 mark, slipping a rebound past Groenestege as the netminder lost his stick on the initial save.

Arizona pulled back to within two on the strength of a pair of power-play tallies late in the contest but Texas was able to weather the pressure, holding on for the win with Groenestege pulled in favor of an extra attacker in the closing moments.

Skating 5-on-3, Landry recorded his ninth of the year from Bartolone and Reeder with 5:09 to play in the game, blasting a slap shot past Palmer from between the circles.

Still on the man-advantage, Reeder recorded his 16th of the year from Gardner and Bartolone less than two minutes later.

Just seven points back of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and the Southern Conference's fifth and final playoff spot, Arizona (13-20-3) concludes a five-game road trip Monday afternoon at 12:00pm (Arizona time) against the expansion Allen Americans at the Allen Events Center in Allen, Texas. Listen live on KDDL ‘Cattle Country' 94.3FM, the Official Radio Home of Arizona Sundogs Hockey, and online at www.cattlecountryradio.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2010


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