Ortmeyer's Hat-Trick Leads RoadRunners Over Grizzlies 3-2
Published on October 21, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Jake Ortmeyer notched a hat-trick in his RoadRunners debut and Phoenix fired a club record 55 shots on goal to defeat the Utah Grizzlies 3-2 on Opening Night 2006 before 4,222 at US Airways Center in ECHL action Friday.
Utah (0-1-0) actually opened the scoring with a pair of goals 2:34 seconds apart. Mike Wirll finished off a Matt Craig tip to the left side of the net and whipped the puck by RoadRunners goaltender Josh Tordjman at 12:05 to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead. Justin Cox made it 2-0 when he re-directed a Tobias Liberg shot by Tordjman at 14:49 on the power play. Ortmeyer scored the first RoadRunners (1-0-0) goal of the season and the first of three on the night when he snapped a wrist shot by Grizzlies net-minder Rob McVicar at 17:14 on the power play to cut the Phoenix deficit to 2-1.
Ortmeyer netted the equalizer at 4:39 of the second period with his second power play goal of the night. Brett Smith's pass deflected off a Utah skate and came right to Ortmeyer in the slot who snapped the puck past McVicar for the tally.
Ortmeyer finished his masterpiece at 10:59 as he collected Scott May's rebound in the slot and slipped the puck behind McVicar to give the RoadRunners a 3-2 lead that would hold up.
Phoenix out-shot Utah 55-23. Tordjman stopped 21 shots as he collected the win in his professional debut. The RoadRunners went 2-15 on the power play while Utah went 1-14.
Notes: The RoadRunners are now 2-0 on Opening Night and 1-1 in home openers...The two clubs combined for 30 penalties and 103 minutes worth of penalty time...Justin Aikins was stopped on a penalty shot in the third period. It was the first penalty shot in RoadRunners ECHL history...New acquisition Brian Yandle will make his RoadRunners debut Saturday. Yandle was acquired from Trenton in exchange for future considerations Friday. He is the brother of Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle.
Individual game tickets for the 2006-07 regular season are currently on sale and can be purchased at the US Airways Center Box Office and at all Ticketmaster outlets including Ticketmaster.com.
The RoadRunners continue OPENING WEEKEND 2006 with game two of their three game series with the Utah Grizzlies at 7:11PM from US Airways Center. Doors open at 6PM! Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.
ECHL Stories from October 21, 2006
- Grizz Drop Second Straight In Phoenix - Utah Grizzlies
- Royals Fall In Shootout 5-4 To Trenton In Home Opener - Reading Royals
- Stingrays Torch Inferno 5-4 In Overtime Home Opener - South Carolina Stingrays
- Third period comeback gives Trenton first win of season - Trenton Devils
- 'Blades bounce back to upend Texas 5-2 - Florida Everblades
- Lynx smite Gladiators 6-5 - Augusta Lynx
- Ice Pilots Fall to Johnstown 5-2 - Pensacola Ice Pilots
- Florida hands Wildcatters First Loss of Season. - Texas Wildcatters
- Gladiators Double Stingrays 4-2 In Season Opener - South Carolina Stingrays
- Gladiators drop road opener in Augusta, 6-5 - Atlanta Gladiators
- RoadRunners Deal Winnik To Long Beach - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Rosehill assigned to Johnstown - Johnstown Chiefs
- Inferno down Lynx on opening night - Augusta Lynx
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Condors game preview - Bakersfield Condors
- MacDonald Becomes 304th Player To Play In NHL After ECHL - ECHL
- Falcons Open Season With Shootout Win - Fresno Falcons
- Ortmeyer's Trick Treats RoadRunners to First Win - OSC Original by Andrew Nordmeier
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Aces hold off Salmon Kings, 5-3 - Alaska Aces
- Salmon Kings show a good hand to a full house of Aces - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Thunder blasts Condors in season debut on 42-save effort by Dubnyk - Stockton Thunder
- Dogs fall to Steelheads in opener - Long Beach Ice Dogs
- Bombers outplay Toledo everywhere but on scoreboard - Dayton Bombers
- Stockton spoils Bakersfield's home opener - Bakersfield Condors
- Ortmeyer's Hat-Trick Leads RoadRunners Over Grizzlies 3-2 - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Wranglers Open Season With a 3-2 Shootout Defeat - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Falcons Open Season With Shootout Win - Fresno Falcons
- Grizzlies drop opener, 3-2 - Utah Grizzlies
- Power Play Goals Fuel Steelheads 2-1 Victory Over Long Beach In Season Opener - Idaho Steelheads
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
