Gorillas power past Sundogs, 7-5
February 13, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
Amarillo, TX 2/13/09 - The Amarillo Gorillas used three power play goals to skate past Southwest Division rival Arizona Friday night, 7-5 at the Amarillo Civic Center.
Amarillo's Stuart MacRae began the scoring, when Arizona netminder Marco Emond misplayed the puck at the side of his cage. Just 1:24 into the first period, MacRae was able to wrist the shot past a sprawled Emond to give the Gorillas an early 1-0 advantage. Mark Kolanos would even the game up at one at 8:07 of the period, scoring past Amarillo goaltender A.J. Bucchino to put the Sundogs on the board. Only moments later, the Gorillas' Jon Ornelas executed a precise backdoor pass to a cutting Sam Ftorek-the Amarillo captain nudged the puck past Emond with the teams at 4-on-4, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead to end the period.
With 1:59 of a Jason Lawmaster penalty carrying over into the second, the Gorillas would take the ice with a man-advantage following the first intermission. While on the power play, Sam Ftorek found Jake Morissette, who one-timed the puck into the net for his 18th goal of the season, giving the Gorillas a 3-1 lead. Matt Hanson answered with a 5-on-3 power play goal for the Sundogs, gunning a shot from the slot past Bucchino to draw the Sundogs within a goal.
Just 1:11 of playing time later, and with the Sundogs still on a power play, Austin Sutter set up Mark Carragher for a shorthanded goal, giving Amarillo another two goal advantage (4-2). The Gorillas couldn't make the lead stand, though, as Arizona's Karl Sellan deftly tipped a Jon Landry shot past Bucchino and into the twine; at 14:13 of the second period, the Sundogs trailed 4-3. The visitors would tie the game with just 25 seconds remaining in the middle frame, getting a Chris Bartolone goal while on a 5-on-3 power play. Bartolone's goal stretched his league-leading goal-scoring streak to five games, and evened the score at 4-4 as the teams skated off the ice for the second intermission.
Despite losing momentum at the end of the second period, Amarillo was able to build momentum at the onset of the third. After Arizona's Kyle Hood was whistled for a clipping penalty at 2:25 of the period, Ornelas netted a power play goal on a Gordon Bell feed, giving the hosts a 5-4 lead. The advantage would once again build to two, when Bell netted a power play goal of his own at the 7:54 mark following a Hood unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Still fighting, the Sundogs grappled back with a Joel Irving deflection goal midway through the third inching the score to 6-5, Gorillas. Carragher would deal the knockout blow for Amarillo moments later, sealing the 7-5 victory by poking a rebound past Emond with 5:48 remaining in the game.
Bucchino (4-7-1) got the win in net for Amarillo (14-29-2), stopping 33 of 38 Arizona shots. Emond, meanwhile, fell to 14-13-3 on the season with a 27-save effort for the Sundogs (21-24-3).
The two rivals will face off once again Saturday night at the Amarillo Civic Center, with the opening face-off scheduled for 7:05 PM Central Time. Amarillo will be wearing special Susan G. Koman jerseys Saturday, as they go "Pink in the Rink" to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Tickets are still available for the game by calling (806) 242-PUCK. Game coverage will be carried in the Amarillo area on 1010 AM "The Canyon", and worldwide via a free Internet video feed on the CHL Network.
The AMARILLO GORILLAS are celebrating their seventh season in "The Jungle" by offering special ticket prices to groups and parties! Call the Gorillas ticketing office at (806) 242-PUCK (7825) for more information, or drop by the Gorillas' new office at 901 S. Buchanan in downtown Amarillo.
• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...
Central Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2009
- Mudbugs Outlast Oilers in Shootout - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
- Beech, 'Kings Top Eagles - Colorado Eagles
- RiverKings Top Conference Leader in Colorado - Mississippi RiverKings
- Scorpions See Their Win Streak Stopped - New Mexico Scorpions
- Bucks Horrify Scorps On Friday The 13th, Win 3-1 - Laredo Bucks
- Brahmas defenses delivers 3-2 win - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Gorillas power past Sundogs, 7-5 - Amarillo Gorillas
- IceRays clip Bees 3-2 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Wray's Tallies Lead Rage to Come-from-Behind Win - Rocky Mountain Rage
- Thunder Stunned by Rage - Wichita Thunder
- Gorillas play Cupid, surprise Chase Tower workers - Amarillo Gorillas
- Win A Vegas Weekend Or Carnival Cruise From The Bucks - Laredo Bucks
- RiverKings Tangle With Eagles In Colorado Tonight - Mississippi RiverKings
- Shots from the Point - CHL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
