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NAHL Amarillo Bulls

Bulls Defeat Texas Tornado 7-2

October 26, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Bulls News Release


AMARILLO, TX - The Amarillo Bulls fired two second-period to break open a close 3-2 game and went on to beat the Texas Tornado 7-2 at the Budweiser Bull Pen in the Amarillo Civic Center On Friday night. It was the Bulls ninth win of the season and it stretched their unbeaten string to nine games.

The two teams will meet tomorrow (Saturday) night at 7 pm to close out their weekend series. In the last two games the Amarillo Bulls have out-scored their opponents 16-5.

The Bulls raced out to a 3-0 lead but saw Texas rally with one late in the first and another to start the second. But Amarillo responded with its fourth goal three minutes later, and then another near the end of the middle period that sealed the victory.

"I was really happy with our effort tonight," said Bulls Head Coach Dennis Williams after the game. "I thought we out-worked them right from the beginning. We had an unorthodox week of practice where we didn't do a lot because we didn't have ice as well as that tough travel back from Corpus Christi. Our guys responded and played a hard-nose, simple hockey game."

Williams said Friday's win won't mean anything unless they can win on Saturday night and sweep the series.

"I expect the Tornado to come out tougher and play stronger," he said. "No-one wants to go on the road and get swept so I think the game will be much closer."

It was a fast start for the Amarillo Bulls with two goals 71 seconds apart in the first three minutes of the game. Brandon Flood made his presence felt in his first Bulls' game tipping home a shot from TJ Sarcona and Joe Grabowski at 2:36. Mike Davis gave the Bulls a 2-0 advantage when he stuffed home a rebound off the boards from Hampus Gustafsson and Tyler Rostenkowski. The Bulls were not done yet as TJ Sarcona scored on the power play from Geoff Fortman and Rostenkowski at the 10:57 mark.

The Texas Tornado trimmed the Bulls lead to 3-1 when they tallied via the power play on a five- on-three. The Bulls outshot the Tornado 14-9 in the opening period.

In the second period, the Bulls surrendered an early goal and saw their lead reduced to 3-2, but it didn't take long for Geoff Fortman to restore the two goal advantage he scored from Gage Christianson at 5:43. Near the end of the stanza, the Bulls made it 5-2 when Ryan Cole banked a shot off of goaltender Hunter Leisner. TJ Sherman and Hampus Gustafsson added assists. The Bulls had the shot advantage in the second period 12-6 and 26-15 overall.

It didn't take long for the Bulls to get rolling in the third period as Hampus Gustafsson scored on a nice shot from Mike Davis at 3:33. The Bulls rounded out the scoring when Tyler Deresky tallied shorthanded. Deresky stole the puck away from the Tornado goaltender and found the back of the net.

The first 12 minutes of the third period was dominated by the Bulls which reflected the way much of the game went. Amarillo Bulls outshot the Texas Tornado 40-18, including 14-3 in the third period.

There were nine total power plays in the game with each team scoring once on the man advantage.

Box Score - Amarillo 7 - Texas 2

Fans are invited to come out and celebrate Halloween early tomorrow (Saturday) night when the Bulls host the Tornado at 7 pm. There will be a costume contest and the lucky winner will take home a snowboard. Tickets are available at the Bulls Office located at 301 South Polk, Suite 101 in the Amarillo Building, Civic Center Box Office and all Panhandle Ticket Outlets. For further information on Group Rates, Seven-Game Flex Packs or Birthday Party Packages, please call the Bulls Office at 806-242-1122.

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