Matching Hat Tricks Lift Sundogs Past Gorillas
February 15, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs and Amarillo Gorillas skated in a Valentine's Day battle of Southwest Division foes Wednesday night at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Donning special Valentine's Day-themed jerseys, fans would see the first two hat tricks in Tim's Toyota Center history as Cory Stillman and Dmitri Leonov would each tally three goals. Leonov would add three assists to cap off a six-point night leading Arizona to the 7-5 win.
The Sundogs would open scoring just 56 seconds into the first period as Dmitri Leonov would pick up a misplayed puck by Gorillas' netminder Shawn Conschafter and find the back of the net. Ryan Steeves and Karl Sellan would be credited with assists on the early goal. At 1:51 of the first Cory Stillman would score on the Sundogs' first man advantage of the night. Leonov would grab his second point of the night with he and Dan Laperriere assisting on the goal. The 14:54 mark would see Amarillo get on the board as Matt Miller would score from Chris Lipsett and Keith Detlefsen. Just shy of four minutes later Arizona would reclaim its two goal lead as Leonov would grab his second goal of the game, this time on the power play from David Lizotte and Chris Greene. The Gorillas would answer back with just five seconds to play in the period to make it 3-2. Lipsett would grab his second point of the evening on passes from Rich Hansen and Bill Vandermeer.
The Sundogs would open scoring in the middle period as they had done in the first tallying the frame's lone goal. Cory Stillman would grab his second power play goal on the night and the team's third at the 13:11 mark to regain Arizona's two-goal lead. Leonov and Brent Kelly would collect assists on the play. Leonov's helper would be his fourth point of the night through two periods.
In the third period Amarillo would cut the Sundogs' lead to one collecting their first power play goal of the night. At the 3:07 mark Trevor Read would slide the puck past Sundogs' goaltender Kris Mayotte on a pass from Rich Hansen. Less than three minutes later Kevin Wilson would tie the game at four goals apiece as he would push the puck past the Sundogs' Mayotte. Galloway Carroll and Dan Carney would notch assists on the play. With 8:41 to play in the third period Cory Stillman would make Sundogs history as he would collect the first-ever hat trick at Tim's Toyota Center. Stillman's third marker from Steeves and Kelly would be his third power play goal of the game and would give the Sundogs a 5-4 lead. Amarillo would again tie the game at 13:08 of the third as Bill Vandermeer would find Joey Bastien behind the Sundogs' defense. Bastien would find the back of the net knotting the game at 5-5. Ryan Steeves would steal back the Sundogs' one-goal lead at 14:57 as he would skate in firing the puck past Conschafter from the top of the left circle. Leonov would assist on the play grabbing his fifth point of the game. With 1:42 remaining in regulation the Leonov would collect his third goal and the Sundogs' second hat trick. The power play goal would be Arizona's fifth goal with the man advantage and Leonov's sixth point on the night with Kelly and Steeves assisting.
Arizona outshot Amarillo 32-28 in the contest with Kris Mayotte making 23 saves for the win. Shawn Conschafter would deflect 25 shots in the loss. The Sundogs' power play would be on point converting on 5-of-11 chances while the Gorillas finished 1-for-6. Ryan Steeves would finish with four points on the night (1g/4a) while CHL leading goal scorer Brent Kelly would notch three assists.
After the game the Sundogs held a live jersey auction to benefit the Arizona Sundogs Foundation. At the end of the auction, the team raised $41,000 for charity. In three jersey auctions to date, the Sundogs have gathered over $75,000 to benefit the Arizona Sundogs Foundation, helping to make Northern Arizona a better place to live.
The Sundogs next take on the Odessa Jackalopes on Friday, February 16 at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Game time is set for 7:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase by phone at 1-866-4-GET-TIX (1-866-443-8849), by internet at www.gettix.net, or in person at the Tim's Toyota Center Box Office. Catch all the Sundogs action live on 96.7 FM The Wolf, the Official Broadcast Home of the Arizona Sundogs.
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