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Oilers Handle Sundogs, 9-3

January 14, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs kicked off the second half of the season suffering their worst setback since an 8-2 loss to the Rapid City Rush on December 17, falling 9-3 to the Tulsa Oilers Friday night at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The nine goals match a Sundogs franchise record for most goals allowed in a game, a mark first set during the 2008 CHL Playoffs in a 9-2 loss to the Laredo Bucks.

Jack Combs recorded Tulsa's first hat trick of the season and added an assist while Chad Costello finished with five points on the night, tallying two goals and three assists in the win.

Combs picked up two goals and an assist in a two-minute span of the first period to open a 3-0 lead before Sundogs rookie Patrick Schafer cut the deficit back to two with his first of two goals on the night with 3:12 remaining in the opening frame.

Tulsa extended its lead to 7-1 with four goals in the middle frame including a pair by Costello to open the period.

Levente Szuper was pulled from the game and replaced by backup goaltender Doug Groenestege for the second time in three starts after giving up seven goals on 20 shots in 32:16 of action. Groenestege finished with 10 saves on 12 attempts.

Combs picked up his first goal of the contest at 14:25 of the first period, snapping a wrist shot past the blocker of Levente Szuper from the near circle to give his club a 1-0 lead.

Marty Standish stretched Tulsa's lead to two with 4:02 to play in the opening frame, skating through the slot and redirecting a Combs turnaround shot past the outstretched glove of Szuper.

Connecting on the power play 33 seconds later, the Oilers opened a three-goal cushion on Combs' second of the opening period. Collecting a Michel Beausoleil rink-wide pass at the near post, Tom Dignard found Combs alone at the side of the cage for the tap-in marker.

Costello recorded his first of two goals 1:43 into the middle frame, splitting the Sundogs defense and slipping a backhand-to-forehand effort inside the left post before burying his club's second power-play goal of the contest two minutes later, firing a wrist shot past Szuper from the far dot.

Gary Steffes netted his 10th of the year at the 11:19 mark to give Tulsa a 6-1 lead before Anthony Battaglia chased Szuper from the game less than a minute later, widening Tulsa's cushion to six.

Kyle Hood notched a goal and an assist in the loss and now has 10 points (2g/8a) in his last four games.

The forward picked up the first of two third-period tallies for Arizona 5:08 into the final frame, knocking a rebound out of the air and past Trevor Cann after the Tulsa goaltender made the initial save on a Jason Visser shot from the high slot.

Combs completed the hat trick effort 61 seconds later, sneaking behind the Sundogs defense and sliding a backhand past Groenestege for his league-leading 23rd goal of the season.

Prior to the game Head Coach and General Manager Marco Pietroniro activated Samuel Grenache, replacing Luke Erickson in the lineup as the forward was granted a leave of absence by the league earlier in the week.

The Sundogs finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage while the Oilers converted on 50-percent of the power play chances, finishing 3-for-6 with the extra skater.

Arizona (15-16-4) continues its three-game road trip Saturday at 6:05pm (Arizona time) against the Wichita Thunder (16-15-2). Listen to the game live online at www.cattlecountryradio.com and on KDDL 'Cattle Country' 94.3FM, the Official Radio Home of Arizona Sundogs Hockey.

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