Rocky Mountain Strengthens Lead in Northwest Division
November 21, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
LOVELAND, Colo. - The Rocky Mountain Rage strengthened their lead in the Northwest Division with a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Eagles at the Budweiser Events Center. The Rage now have 23 points (11-1-1), to the Eagles' 14 (6-6-2), and have won two of the three meetings between the in-state rivals this season; Colorado's lone win came in overtime.
Seth Leonard stretched his point streak to seven games with an assist on the first goal of the game at 11:09. On the power play, Leonard stick handled behind the net before sliding a pass to a pinching Aaron Schneekloth in the right slot to put Colorado on top. The lead wouldn't last long, however, as the Rage's Daymen Rycroft tied the game at 12:44. Rycroft split the defense and was about to break free when he was tripped up, but he managed to get a shot off while falling and the puck beat Marco Emond between his left leg and the post. Rocky Mountain took the lead just over a minute and a half later when Colorado native, Chip Dunleavy, backhanded a pass from behind the goal line and into the slot in front of Emond. Left wing Colt King was waiting -- wide open, no one within 15 feet of him -- and easily buried the chance to make it 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
The Rage appeared to take control of the game in the second period, expanding their lead to 4-1. Trevor Weisgerber made it 3-1 at 4:14 after a great individual effort by Rycroft. Rycroft skated down the right wing boards and powered around an Eagles defenseman before crashing in on the net. Emond stopped the first shot, but Weisgerber swooped in to pick up the rebound. At 6:35, Jason Beatty and Justin Schmit dropped the gloves at center ice. Beatty came out firing rights and dropped Schmit momentarily to his knee. Schmit got back up and they continued to throw punches before the fight stagnated into a stand-still.
The tussle did little to change the momentum as Rocky Mountain picked up a power play goal under a minute later. Colt King made a great deflection, standing on the doorstep, of a Tyler Butler shot from the right point. At 8:17, Greg Pankewicz and Butler dropped the gloves after the Eagles captain picked up a goaltender interference penalty; Butler temporarily left the ice due to a cut on his forehead. Later in the period, the Eagles had an apparent goal waved off, as Mike Lukajic -- playing in his first game this season, after signing with the Eagles earlier this week -- crashed the net. Despite the linesman signaling goal (the referee had lost vision of the puck), the goal judge was screened by Reid falling backward and the goal light never came on. After a discussion with all involved, referee, Kris Schoech, declared no goal and the period ended with the Rage up 4-1.
The Eagles came roaring back in the third period, with Lukajic getting redemption for the waved-off goal. At 2:20, the new Eagles' forward converted on a tic-tac-toe play to cut the Rage lead in half. Ed McGrane passed the puck from the left wing circle, across the low slot to Scott Polaski, who tapped it across the crease to Lukajic. Lukajic then got his second of the game under two minutes later with a power play tally. He picked up the puck in the left wing corner, skated above the goal line and threw a low-angle shot high on Reid. The puck found its way past the Rage goaltender and the Eagles were down by just one. Polaski and Schneekloth got the assists. Colorado kept coming, and nearly tied it when Pankewicz broke in alone and fired a shot from the right circle that hit the post. The rebound made its way to Riley Nelson at the blue line and his laser just missed the open side of the net.
But Reid made some big saves and the Rage held on, adding an empty-netter by Rycroft (his second goal of the night) with just 47.8 seconds left. The bad blood continued to boil even after the final horn as Beatty and Schmit dropped the gloves for the second time on the night. The Eagles will look to bounce back with two homes games this weekend against the Amarillo Gorillas on Friday and Saturday.
Central Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2007
- Rocky Mountain Strengthens Lead in Northwest Division - Colorado Eagles
- Rage Down Eagles, 5-3 - Rocky Mountain Rage
- Scorpions Fall To Rio Grande Valley - New Mexico Scorpions
- Late Goal Cracks the Bats - Austin Ice Bats
- RiverKings beat Blazers in shootout, 2-1 - Mississippi RiverKings
- Gorillas Knock Off Thunder 5-3 - Amarillo Gorillas
- Brahmas Edge Rayz 5-4 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Bucks Lose 3-0 Lead, Game In Shootout - Laredo Bucks
- Listen to the Hounds on WSOM this weekend - Youngstown SteelHounds
- Scorpions Ask Fans To Be Giving This Holiday Season - New Mexico Scorpions
- Rayz launch new-look website - Corpus Christi IceRays
- KidzClub Memberships Available - Tulsa Oilers
- Kozak Out For Blazers Game - Mississippi RiverKings
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