Buzzards swat Scorpions 4-2
December 20, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
El Paso Buzzards News Release
EL PASO, Texas â The El Paso Buzzards brought holiday cheer to the Sun City on Friday with a 4-2 victory over their arch-rival, the New Mexico Scorpions. The Buzzards and Scorpions are two of the Central Hockey League's oldest rivals and did not disappoint in this physical Southwest Division clash.
The Buzzards' Troy Linna scored two goals, Rhett Dudley and Derrell Upton had two assists in the El Paso victory. Russ Guzior scored his 13th goal of the season and Jeff Scharf added his 11th to give the Buzzards the win. Buzzards' goaltender Blaine Russell made 16 saves in net.
The Buzzards started off the game reverting back to their aggressive style of play. Linna opened the scoring with a graceful wraparound goal beating Scorpions' goaltender Luciano Caravaggio to give El Paso and early 1-0 lead. It was Linna's sixth goal of the season as Josh Tymchak and Upton assisted on the play. The Buzzards in the period also stopped the Scorpions twice on their power play. The Buzzards led 13 to 5 in the shots on goal category after one period.
In the second period, the Buzzards let up a power play goal when Scorpions' defenseman Mario Dumoulin converted a one timer on the power play tying up the game. Then the Buzzards came back to life. Guzior, falling to the ice, swatted a shot past Carvaggio at 9:43 to give the Buzzards a 2-1 lead. Joe Gray and Dudley assisted on Guzior's goal. The Buzzards then converted on a five-on-three man advantage when Scharf continued the scoring barrage with a rebound goal at 17:45. Dudley and Guzior assisted on Scharf's goal. To close out the period, Linna on a two-on-one, skated in the near side slot and put a blazing wrist shot past Caravaggio's right pad to cap the second period scoring at 19:56. The Buzzards out shot the Scorpions 8 to 4 in the second period.
The Buzzards' continued the pressure with a three-goal lead in the third period. The Scorpions' Dumoulin scored his second goal of the game with a wrist shot, but that was all New Mexico could muster. Russell made six dazzling saves in the final two minutes to preserve the victory.
The win improves the Buzzards to 7-16-2 overall and 5-9-1 at the Nest. New Mexico drops to 12-13-1 overall and 5-6-1 on the road. The Buzzards now lead the season series 3-2-0.
The Buzzards' next game will be at 7 p.m., in the Nest, Saturday against the San Angelo Saints. Listen to all of the Buzzards games on 1380 KHEY, El Paso's Sports Ticket with the voice of the Buzzards, Michael LaPlaca. The Jackalopes remain in first place in the Southwest Division. The Buzzards retain the fourth place spot, nine points back of New Mexico for third place.
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