Reeder Hat Trick Not Enough in Back and Forth Loss

December 26, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - Unbeaten in four straight road games and winners of two straight away from home coming into the contest, the Arizona Sundogs fell to the Odessa Jackalopes, 6-5, Saturday night at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, Texas.

Arizona lost for just the second time this season when leading after one, both losses coming at the hands of the Jackalopes.

Konrad Reeder recorded his second hat trick of the season in the loss while Odessa used a four-goal second period to grab their ninth win in its last 11 games.

The host Jackalopes jumped out to an early 2-0 lead Saturday night on tallies by Kory Karlander and Brian Swiniarski in the game's first six minutes but Arizona responded with three unanswered in a four-minute span to take a 3-2 advantage heading into the first intermission.

Reeder opened scoring for Arizona on the team's first man-advantage chance of the game, firing a wrist shot high past the glove of Juha Toivonen at 8:14. Veteran defenseman Chris Bartolone extended his scoring streak to three games with an assist on the play.

Jon Landry evened the score at 2-2 just over two minutes later with his fifth of the year, collapsing back door and poking home a loose puck at the end of an odd-man rush midway through the opening frame.

Torren Delforte's 11th of the season from linemates Joey Sides and Kyle Hood at the 11:57 mark gave the Sundogs their first lead of the game.

Karlander converted on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play for his 10th of the year 4:10 into the contest, batting home a centering feed from Sebastien Thinel to give the Jackalopes an early 1-0 cushion.

Swiniarski stretched Odessa's lead to two a minute and a half later, beating Kyle McNulty with a rebound chance after a Jean Bourbeau blast from the top of the far circle.

After three unanswered goals by Arizona in the first period, the Jackalopes responded with four unanswered markers in the second to reclaim a lead they first established early in the contest.

Dominic Leveille collected his first of two second-period tallies 1:11 into the middle frame, sending an innocent backhand effort on net as the two teams skated 4-on-4.

McNulty made the initial save but the puck popped up in the air and behind the netminder following a blocker save.

Leveille reclaimed a one-goal lead with his eighth of the year and third point of the game three and a half minutes later, beating McNulty from between the circles on a centering feed from Thinel.

Philippe Plante netted his sixth of the season at 12:59 of the second to give the Jackalopes a 5-3 cushion before Kenny Bernard and Mike Ramsay combined for a 2-on-1 break with 2:41 to play in the period, pushing the their club's lead to 6-3.

Reeder pulled Arizona back to within two with his second of the game just 50 seconds into the third period and capped off the hat trick effort with his team-leading 13th goal of the year from Kevin Gardner with 8:37 to play.

Trailing by one late in the game, Head Coach and General Manager Marco Pietroniro pulled McNulty in favor of an extra attacker but the Sundogs were unable to solve Toivonen in the final minute of play as the Finnish goaltender made several big saves to preserve Odessa's league-best 22nd win of the season.

McNulty turned away 34 of 40 shots in the loss while Toivonen stopped 33 of 38 shots to earn the win. Arizona finished 1-for-8 with the man advantage while Odessa converted twice on seven power-play opportunities.

The two teams square off again tomorrow afternoon at 3:05pm (Arizona time). The game can be heard live on KDDL ‘Cattle Country' 94.3FM, the Official Radio Home of Arizona Sundogs Hockey, and online at www.cattlecountryradio.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2009


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.

OurSports Central