Graham's Hat Trick Not Enough for Americans in Loss to Colorado
January 1, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Allen Americans News Release
ALLEN, Texas- Attempting to win their fifth straight game and start 2011 off with a bang, the first place Allen Americans fell to the Colorado Eagles 11-6 in front of 3,776 at the Allen Event Center tonight.
Colorado opened the scoring with a pair of goals early in the first period. Forward Riley Nelson found the back of the net first just 0:18 into the frame, followed by defenseman Jason Beatty 5:05 later.
The Americans would fire right back and get on the board at the 7:32 mark when Bruce Graham wristed a puck past Eagles netminder Andrew Penner to trim the deficit to 2-1. The goal was Graham's fifteenth of the season and fourth in the past three games.
Graham struck again 4:26 later to tie the game at 2, but the Eagles would quickly restore their lead with goals from Steve Haddon and Kevin Ulanski at 13:23 and 13:56 of the frame.
Nino Musitelli joined the goal parade with a power play marker with 5:29 remaining in the first to reduce the Eagles lead to 1, but Colorado would respond once again with Kevin Ulanski's second of the night to take a 5-3 lead into the first intermission.
The Eagles extended their lead to 6-3 while on the power play early in the second period when Steve Haddon picked up a rebound and fired it past Scott Campbell for his second tally of the night. The middle frame saw no further scoring despite several chances for both sides.
Bruce Graham netted his third of the night 0:56 into the third period to make it a 6-4 game after breaking into the zone and backhanding the puck past Penner. Graham's hat-trick was the second in as many nights for the Americans, who received a three goal effort from Dave Bonk last night.
The Americans early period momentum would be short-lived however, as Kevin Ulanski netted a pair of short-handed goals 0:15 apart to give the Eagles their biggest lead of the night at 8-4 with 18:09 remaining in regulation.
Colton Yellow Horn and David Strathman would also score in the final frame for Allen, but goals from Kevin Ulanski, Dan Sullivan and Kyle Peto kept the Eagles lead intact.
Colorado's Kevin Ulanski was named the game's first star with five goals and an assist, while Bruce finished the night with three goals and two assists to earn the second star of the game honors.
With the loss, the Americans fall to 22-6-1 on the season but remain in first place in both the Berry Conference and the Central Hockey League with 45 points.
Allen will now travel to take on the Tulsa Oilers tomorrow, with puck drop scheduled for 4:05 at the BOK Center.
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