El Paso 4, Odessa 3
March 22, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
El Paso Buzzards News Release
The El Paso Buzzards claimed the first game of the best-of-five series against the Odessa Jackalopes the same way they won the last nine of ten games and claimed their sixth straight playoff berth: solid defense and timely scoring.
The Buzzards got goals from four different players, defeating the Jackalopes, 4-3, in Odessa.
"I think anybody who's paid attention to the NHL or to us understands that the playoffs â it's a whole different season," said El Paso head coach Trent Eigner. "We did a great job of reducing the game to one-on-one battles all night long."
El Paso opened up the scoring at 14:43 of the first period. John Hanson was forced in behind the Odessa net by two backchecking Jackalopes, but zipped a pass to Corey Waring at the top of the slot. Waring's one-time blast found it's way past Gorman, glove-side low.
The Buzzards also earned their second goal at 3:27 of the second period with solid forechecking. Again led by Hanson, who kept the puck in the Jacks' zone, rookie centerman Kory Baker flipped a two foot pass to the waiting stick of team captain Van Burgess, who one-timed the shot past Gorman for a 2-0 El Paso lead.
Almost the rest of the second period belonged to Odessa, as the Jackalopes' Kenny Corupe and John Bossio beat Buzzards goaltender Jeff Levy at 6:03 and 14:05 of the second period, respectively, to tie the game, 2-2.
But at 18:26 of the second, El Paso rookie forward Aaron Phillips got by the heavy back-checking to go one-on-one against Gorman from low in the left circle. Phillips took the tough angle shot top shelf past Gorman and the Buzzards led, 3-2, at the end of 40 minutes.
Again El Paso opened the third with an early goal, as Jeremy Vanin took Odessa defenseman Jacque Rodrigue's clearance attempt at right circle and slapped it past Gorman at 1:10, giving the Buzzards a 4-2 lead.
Kevin Hansen scored the Jacks' third goal on power play and Odessa poured it on the third, outshooting El Paso, 17-6, in the final 20 minutes alone.
The Jackalopes, who won the CHL's Governor's Cup trophy signifying the best regular season record in the league, had numerous opportunities to undo the magic the Buzzards were weaving, especially in the third period.
But El Paso's backchecking held, even as Odessa â already on power play â pulled Gorman with over two minutes remaining in the game.
"To a man, those guys were just hacking and whacking for two solid minutes," said Eigner. "But when you're going to be successful in the post-season, you need to have everybody contributing.
"We had that. We fully expected to play a game that would go down to the last minute, and that's exactly what happened."
Game two of the series is tonight in Odessa. El Paso will return home next Friday and Saturday for games three and four.
Central Hockey League Stories from March 22, 2002
- Austin Takes 1-0 Lead in First Round Series - Austin Ice Bats
- El Paso 4, Odessa 3 - El Paso Buzzards
- Leslie and Emersic Receive Call-Up - Lubbock Cotton Kings
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