Gorillas Squash Mudbugs
February 18, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
AMARILLO, TX - The Gorillas scored in each period Friday night, including overtime, to top the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 4-3 at The Jungle in front of 4,107 fans. Winger Dan Donnette and defenseman Kevin Wilson each had multi-point games, leading nine different Gorilla scorers.
The first period was relatively defensive for the first 17 minutes of the game. But, at the 16:55 mark, Rich Hansen put the Gorillas into a hole. The center was penalized for hooking and the Mudbugs took advantage of the power-play. A shot from Brett Smith was stopped but deflected in the air. A defensive breakdown by the Gorillas in front of the net led to Bossier captain Dan Wildfong poking the puck out of the air and into the goal for a 1-0 Mudbugs lead and Wildfong's 20th. The lead, however, would be short-lived.
Just 12 seconds later, the newest Gorilla Donnette got Amarillo back in game. Off a pass from Trevor Socholotuk, Donnette wrapped around the net and tried to muscle one past rookie goaltender David Cacciola. Although he was stopped at first, the winger was relentless and pushed the puck in. The goal, his second in five games, came at 17:40 of the first period and tied the contest at 1-1, the score at the first intermission.
The second period didn't start as the Gorillas would have wanted. Just over three minutes in, pressure from the Mudbugs' offense was able to penetrate the Gorillas' defense. A pass from defenseman Craig Minard found Chris Brassard on the point. The forward's slap-shot was able to beat Degagne for his 11th goal and gave Bossier-Shreveport a 2-1 lead.
The Mudbugs' advantage held for just over three-and-a-half minutes. A pass from Hansen in the Gorillas' offensive zone was handed off to rookie Keith Rowe. Although the pass originally got away from him, the winger was able to get it back and sneak a shot through the legs of Cacciola. The goal came at 6:37 of the second period and made the score 2-2. Rowe's goal was his 11th of his rookie campaign.
The back-and-forth play continued roughly six minutes later. With Amarillo on the power-play, Brassard broke away from the neutral zone and scored on Degagne for his 12th goal of the year and second of the game. The goal came at 12:08 of the second period and gave the Mudbugs the lead 3-2, which they would hold for the remainder of the period.
The Gorillas sent the game back into a tie with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. In their offensive set-up, a shot from just inside the blue-line was stopped by Cacciola, as was the rebound by Joe Guenther, but the Bossier tender couldn't stop the third Gorilla effort, this time by Scott Wray top-shelf. The score tied the game at 3-3 with 8:32 remaining.
Despite a barrage of shots in the final minutes by Amarillo, the game was destined for an extra session. The Gorillas dominated the overtime period. Already with three shots two-and-a-half minutes into the frame, player-coach Mark DeSantis took Amarillo's fourth and was able to beat Cacciola for his 11th goal of the year from the low wing. The captain is now just two points shy of 500 for his career. The goal came 2:59 into the overtime and gave the Gorillas a 4-3 win.
Amarillo's Shawn Degagne was clutch when called upon in the win, stopping 30 of 33 shots to improve to 15-11-2 on the season. On the other side, Bossier-Shreveport's Cacciola had 37 saves of 41 shots faced.
In addition, Gorillas defenseman Gerard Miller left the game after the second period and did not return. His status for this evening's game is currently unknown.
Penalty minutes were low for both teams, each assessed ten. The penalty kill for both teams was good - Amarillo allowed a goal on four kills while Bossier-Shreveport was a perfect 4-of-4 on its kill.
With the win, the Gorillas improve to a 23-19-3 record with 49 points, remaining in second place in the Southwest division and ten points behind Odessa, who defeated Laredo in a shootout 2-1, and eight points ahead of Lubbock who was idle. In addition, the Gorillas move into a points tie for the third playoff spot with Austin who fell to Colorado 6-2. If the playoffs began today, the Gorillas would be the fourth seed due to the Ice Bats winning the season series. The current fifth seed, Rio Grande Valley, fell to Corpus Christi in a shootout and trails Amarillo and Austin by just two points.
At the game, Valero McKee Refinery's Volunteer Program gave employees the opportunity to participate in community initiatives on work time as well as volunteer time. Nearly 750 Valero employees came out to the Gorillas game, donating 260 tickets and feeding several groups of underprivileged youths, including the Presbyterian Children's Home, the Catholic Family Youth Shelter, the Safe Place, Boys Ranch, and the Special Olympics, among others.
Amarillo Gorillas Hockey Presented by NewsChannel 10 will not be broadcast on radio on Saturday but the game can be seen locally on UPN-Amarillo with coverage set to begin at 7 pm. The game will also be available on CHLTV (www.chltv.com). Adam Kaufman will be handling the play-by-play duties with analyst Jason Friedman.
Saturday, the Gorillas will celebrate Bud Light Night presented by NewsChannel 10 against Laredo by wearing special Texas-themed jerseys to be auctioned off after the game.
Great seats are still available to all upcoming home games! Tickets for Gorillas games can be purchased at the Gorillas Hockey Office, located at 1934 Civic Circle off of I-40 and Georgia, the Civic Center Box Office and all Panhandle Ticket Outlets. These include Randy's Music Mart, the West Texas Event Center in Canyon and United Supermarkets. Tickets can also be charged by phone at (806) 378-3096 or (806) 242-PUCK (7825).
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Central Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2006
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- RiverKings rally but fall short in Tulsa - Mississippi RiverKings
- Jacks ease past Brahmas 6-2 - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Eagles Win Third Straight on Road - Colorado Eagles
- Bucks Fall 3-2 In Shootout In Amarillo - Laredo Bucks
- Blair Stops 54 to lead Colorado 4-2 over Lubbock - Lubbock Cotton Kings
- Oilers game night matchup - Tulsa Oilers
- RiverKings game-day preview - Mississippi RiverKings
- Killer Bees Game Notes - Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
- Gorillas Squash Mudbugs - Amarillo Gorillas
- Cotton Kings Game Night Preview vs. Colorado - Lubbock Cotton Kings
- Hanson hat trick leads Hounds to 4-2 win over Brahmas - Fort Worth Brahmas
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