Cotton Kings Game Night Preview
March 18, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Lubbock Cotton Kings News Release
3/18/07 - NEW MEXICO SCORPIONS (31-21-7) @ LUBBOCK COTTON KINGS (22-30-8) - 5:05 PM CITY BANK COLISEUM
UNDER PRESSURE
The Lubbock Cotton Kings are not out of the playoff hunt yet and a loss tonight wouldn't mathematically eliminate the Cotton Kings, but the Kings desperately need a win as they host the New Mexico Scorpions this evening. The Cotton Kings have four games remaining and they set four standing points behind Rio Grande Valley for the final spot in the Southern Conference. Lubbock must also get past Austin and Odessa, who both are ahead of Lubbock in the standings chasing Rio. The Kings enter tonight's game on a three-game winless streak. The Scorpions could clinch the Southwest Division tonight if they win and Amarillo suffers a loss to Oklahoma City this afternoon.
THE SERIES
This game is the eighth and final match-up on the season between the two teams and the fourth in Lubbock. The Scorps have won six of the seven meetings this season and is 6-1-0 in the series, and this match-up will be the 65th all-time meeting. Bobby Brown (5g,2a) leads the Kings in the season series with seven points, while Lance Herauf (5g,4a) and Ryan McLeod (5g,4a) each have nine points in the series to lead the Scorps'. Lubbock holds a 29-25-10 all-time record against the Scorps with former King Jan Melichercik leading the all-time series with 16 goals and 33 assists for 49 points, while New Mexico holds the all-time advantage with a 35-21-8 mark. Former Scorpion Peter Ambroziak leads the series offensively with 59 points (20g,39a).
THE LAST TIME
3/3/07 - New Mexico's Ryan McLeod converted in the sixth round of a shootout to clinch a 2-1 victory over the Lubbock Cotton Kings Thursday night at City Bank Coliseum. The Hub City team has earned standing points in seven straight home contests (3-0-4), and have a record of 21-27-8 for 50 points in the standings. They are three points in back of the Rio Grand Valley Killer Bees for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Central Hockey League's Southern Conference.
It took the Scorpions the opening 4:15 before they controlled the puck in their offensive zone, but they would score on their first shot at 4:45 of the first period with Konrad Reeder connecting on the power play. Lubbock answered back at the 8:38 mark as Bobby Brown fired a shot on net through traffic for the score. The power play tally is his 20th goal of the year.
The second and third periods were scoreless leading to overtime play. The five-minute extra session also saw no goals, so the squads headed to a shootout. After the first round of the shootout, Lubbock goaltender J.F. Perras was injured and netminder Kyle Stanton replaced Perras in net for the remainder of the shootout. McLeod would convert on his sixth-round attempt for the New Mexico win.
The contest marked the sixth consecutive time the Kings have lost at home when the game is decided after regulation. Perras had 24 stops off of 25 shots on net in 65:00 of ice time, but Stanton records the overtime loss (OTL) in net as the game-winner was scored while he was in goal. The loss extends Stanton's winless streak to 17 games. New Mexico's David Cacciola takes the win in net, as he made 24 saves off of 25 shots on goal. The Scorpions out-shot the Cotton Kings 26-25 for the evening. Both teams were 1-for-6 on the power play.
ROSTER CHANGES
Friday, the Cotton Kings waived Jimmy Callahan and added Derrek Douglas and goaltender Anthony Feyock.
STANDINGS
Kings - 52 points, 5th place, 17 points back, Southwest Division.
Scorpions - 69 points, 1st place, Southwest Division.
TEAM LEADERS
Kings - Points: 54 Bobby Brown, Goals: 29 Anders Strome, Assists: 33 Bobby Brown, Penalty Minutes: 208 Paul McBrien.
Scorpions - Points: 61 Ryan McLeod / Christopher Robertson, Goals: 26 Mike Falk, Assists: 47 Rob Guinn, Penalty Minutes: 201 Kevin Harvey.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kings - Power play: 14.3% 13th, Penalty killing: 87.2% 2nd.
Scorpions - Power play: 14.6% 12th, Penalty killing: 78.5% 17th.
GOALTENDERS
Kings - JF Perras (15-14-3, 3 SO, 2.82), Kyle Stanton (7-16-5, 1 SO, 3.57), Anthony Feyock (0-0-0, 0 SO, 2.20).
Scorpions - David Cacciola (20-3-2, 0 SO, 2.41), Scott Reid (6-7-3, 0 SO, 2.93).
WHAT'S NEXT
Lubbock - Wednesday, March 21st 8:05 PM @ Colorado Eagles Budweiser Events Center
New Mexico - Tuesday, March 20th 9:00 PM @ Arizona Sundogs Tim's Toyota Center
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