Gorillas Rally Back, Win 6-5 In Overtime
March 7, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
Tulsa, OK - The Amarillo Gorillas got their second straight win on Friday night, battling back to beat the Tulsa Oilers 6-5 in overtime. David Nimmo had a hat-trick in the game, his second of the year, with his third goal serving as the game-winner just :37 into overtime. It was Amarillo's first win over Tulsa this year, who had beaten them in the two previous meetings, with all three games in the series being decided by one goal.
Amarillo was behind for the entire game, falling back 2-0 in the first 4:40 off of goals from Tulsa's Warren McCutcheon and Brendan Hodge. Bill Vandermeer would get Amarillo on the scoreboard with his goal at 11:49, leaving him just one goal shy of becoming the second 30-goal scorer on the Gorillas roster.
In period two, Tulsa would gain a 4-1 edge with early goals from Darren McKague and reigning CHL MVP Jeff Christian. After the fourth Tulsa goal, Head Coach Jim Wiley would pull Dan Bauer from net and replace him with Dan McWhinney. Bauer gave up four goals on 20 shots. Nimmo would get the first of his three goals late in the period at 19:39 on the power-play, giving the Gorillas some life before the start of the third.
In the final frame, Amarillo's Austin Sutter would make it a 4-3 game scoring on the power-play from the high slot, getting help from Nimmo and Nate Fornataro. Shortly after however, a short-handed tally by David Beauregard would put Tulsa back on top by two. Gorillas captain Keith Rowe would bring his club back to within one, scoring at 12:02 after Matt Miller came crashing in on net, flipped the puck on goal and Rowe pulled the rebound away from Jeff Van Nynatten and buried his fifth goal of the year. Nimmo's second goal of the game would tie it up at 5-5 at the 15:10 mark of the third, sending the game into overtime.
It didn't take the Gorillas long to secure their twentieth win of the year, as Jeff Christian took an early slashing call in overtime, putting the Gorillas on a 4-on-3 power-play. With Nimmo parked in front of the net, Bill Vandermeer would find him from the corner, and the CHL's leading rookie scorer would complete the hat-trick tipping the puck past Van Nynatten, sending the Gorillas bench into a frenzy.
Amarillo will be back in action tomorrow night, as they take on the Arizona Sundogs at the Amarillo Civic Center, with game time set for 7:05 PM.
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