CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for December 27, 2013

Published on December 27, 2013 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Three Things You Need to Know

1.) Mavs Strike First- The Rapid City Rush (20-4-0, 40 points) and the Missouri Mavericks (18-6-1, 37 points) are one game into a three-game series in South Dakota with the Mavericks drawing first blood with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night. The two teams sitting at the top of the standings will meet again on Friday and Saturday. John-Scott Dickson scored a pair of goals and Matt Stephenson added three assists in the victory on Thursday night. With the win, the Mavs move to within three points of the first place Rush who have dropped just four games all season, all coming on home ice. The Mavs are a bit shorthanded for the series with Colt King finishing his seven-game suspension (can return to play on New Year's Eve) and both Kyle Hood and Sam Posa leaving the team for opportunities outside hockey. Sean Erickson scored both goals on Thursday for the Rush. The defenseman has four goals and fiv e assists over his last four games.

2.) Comeback Kids- The Tulsa Oilers (16-12-2) and Allen Americans (14-10-2) clashed at the BOK Center on Thursday night with the Oilers scoring four times in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit and win by a final count of 4-2. Tulsa improved to 3-9-1 when trailing after two periods and Allen losses in regulation for the first time when leading after two frames (10-1-1). Tulsa dominated Allen for the final 40 minutes on Thursday outshooting them 24-10 and scoring four times. Nathan Lutz, Ben Gordon and Todd Robinson all had a goal and an assist for Tulsa who sits in third place four points ahead of the fourth place Americans. Allen heads to St. Charles (7-16-4) for a showdown on Friday night and Tulsa hosts Wichita (8-14-4) before the Oilers and Americans face-off again in Texas on Saturday.

3.) A Little History North of the Border- The Quad City Mallards (12-6-5) and the Brampton Beast (14-12-1) square-off in a three-game series that begins Friday night at the Powerade Centre. The two teams are tied in the standings with 29 points and so far in the season series, the Flock are 2-1-1 (all games in Moline). Quad City Head Coach Terry Ruskowski is set to coach his 730th CHL game on Friday night which will move him past Scott Muscutt into second place on the league's all-time games coached list. Ruskowski trails just CHL Hall of Famer Doug Sauter (918 games). The Beast have played just nine home games all season (6-3), while Quad City is 3-4-4 away from home.

By the Numbers

107: The number of goals the Tulsa Oilers have scored this season representing the only CHL team to eclipse the 100-goal mark. The Oilers have played the most games of any CHL team (30) but their per-game average of 3.57 is third in the CHL trailing only Quad City (3.67) and Missouri (3.64).

One-Timers

-The Denver Cutthroats (12-9-5) have the league's best power play (22.4%) and on Friday and Saturday, they go head-to-head with the Arizona Sundogs (9-16-1) who in three games this year, they have scored six PP goals against. Garett Bembridge leads all CHL skaters with nine power play goals on the season.

-The Tulsa Oilers have outscored the Wichita Thunder 8-1 in the third period of their five games this season. The Oilers lead the season series with a 4-1 record and Shane Madolora has been in net for all five games and is carrying a 1.70 GAA against the Thunder.

-Wichita's Ian Lowe and Jon Booras each have scored three goals in their last five games.

-The St. Charles Chill are 3-3-2 in their last eight home games and are 5-8-3 on the season in The Family Arena. The Chill face Allen on Friday nihgt in the second ever meeting between the two teams. The Americans won back in October by a 6-4 score with Darryl Bootland scoring a goal with two assists. The veteran will not be in the line-up Friday as he will e serving the second game of a two-game suspension.

-Special teams should favor the Brampton Beast in their three-game series with the Quad City Mallards this weekend as the Beast are the best team on the penalty kill (87.5%) and the Mallards have the league's lowest PP percentage (13.1).

-Denver's Troy Schwab and Garett Bembridge are both riding seven-game point streaks as they head into their game on Friday versus Arizona. Bembridge has 12 points during his streak and Schwab has 11 points.

-CHL-TV, powered by America ONE Sports, is back for a second season with monthly and season packages available as well as all games on a given night available for $8.00. Visit www.americaonesports.com for ordering information.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2013


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