Rage Lose See-Saw Battle in Overtime
February 17, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rocky Mountain Rage News Release
Prescott Valley, Ariz. - In a game that featured five lead changes, the Arizona Sundogs defeated the Rocky Mountain Rage in overtime, 5-4, at Tim's Toyota Center. Arizona earned four points on the weekend after defeating the Rage last night, 4-2, while Rocky Mountain gained a single point for the overtime loss to move six points ahead of the idle Colorado Eagles atop the Northwest Division.
The Sundogs' Olivier Latendresse scored his first of two on the evening at 4:25 of the first, and it was a see-saw battle from there. He was answered by the Rage's Daymen Rycroft, who became the first player in the CHL this season to reach the 40-goal mark at 15:02 on the power play.
Tied at one entering the second, Rocky Mountain took its first lead of the game at 4:00 when Pat Sutton scored his first goal of the year. The 'Dogs responded with goals from Latendresse at 8:58 and Jon Landry at 11:32 to grab a 3-2 edge. The Rage fired back, though, converting on the power play off the stick of Rycroft at 14:18 before the lead changed hands for a fourth time when David Morelli struck short-handed at 16:54 to give his club a 4-3 advantage heading to the third.
Arizona squared the game at four on the power play with a goal from Jason Visser at 7:08 of the final frame, sending the teams to overtime for the third time in five clashes this year.
It looked as if the game would be decided in a shootout as the clock rolled under one minute left in the extra session when the Sundogs' Mark Kolanos suddenly picked the pocket of a Rage defenseman. The league's leading rookie scorer then wheeled into the slot and beat goaltender Terry Dunbar to the glove side for the game-winner at 4:17.
With the overtime loss, Rocky Mountain drops to 30-13-5 with 65 points on the season.
The Rage now return home on Friday, Feb. 22, to host the Oklahoma City Blazers at Broomfield Event Center at 7:05 p.m. The club then faces a pair of showdowns with the Eagles in a home-and-home set that begins at the Budweiser Events Center on Saturday, Feb. 23, before concluding in Broomfield on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 3:05 p.m. The first 1,000 fans at next Sunday's clash will receive a Clay Plume Bobblehead Doll courtesy of FirsTier Bank.
Single-game tickets for the remainder of the 2007-08 regular season are available with prices ranging from $18 - $43 per seat (parking included). Fans can purchase tickets at Broomfield Event Center's box office or through Ticketmaster by logging-on to www.Ticketmaster.com, calling (303) 830-TIXS, or visiting any Ticketmaster retail outlet.
For group ticket information, please call the Rage at (303) 439-RAGE or visit www.rockymountainrage.com.
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