Pilots Fall to Bulls 6-1 in Series Opener
February 8, 2020 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Topeka Pilots News Release
The Topeka Pilots faced a challenging opposition on Friday night in the Amarillo Bulls and could not get it done on the road.
Topeka (27-13-3) fell behind early and trailed 3-1 after the first 20 minutes and 5-1 after 40 minutes, en route to falling 6-1 at the Budweiser Bull Pen.
Amarillo (35-7-3) overpowered Topeka early on, outshooting the Pilots 17-9 in the opening period.
Forward Devan Tongue opened the scoring for the Bulls with a powerplay goal at 2:36 of the first period, beating Pilots goaltender Guy Blessing.
The Pilots fired back, with defenseman Vincent Corcoran netting his fifth of the year at 3:54, sniping a shot past goaltender Charlie Glockner, to even the game at 1-1.
But, from there, the Pilots could not beat Glockner, who is now 16-3-3 on the season with a 1.53 goals against average.
Amarillo forward Jordan Venegoni gave the Bulls a lead at 8:05 of the first, netting his 25th of the season to make it 2-1.
Tongue would add to the lead before first intermission, with his second of the night at 17:42.
Forwards Ty Black and Matt Allen added a goal each in the second to extend the lead to 5-1, with Black's goal chasing Blessing at 1:10 of the second period, as Topeka finished the game with goaltender Josh Langford between the pipes.
Blessing stopped 14 of 18 shots in his 21 minutes of action, as Langford stopped 17 of 19 in relief.
The game's final tally came at 2:05 of the third, with Black picking up his second of the night to make it 6-1 Bulls.
Topeka went 0-for-4 on the powerplay Friday night, while the Bulls went 1-for-4 and also picked up a shorthanded goal.
The Pilots will look to rebound and try for a series split on Saturday, as they face the Bulls at 7:05 p.m. at the Budweiser Bull Pen.
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