Shots High, Goals Low
Published on November 28, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
AMARILLO, TX - The Gorillas entered play Saturday evening trying to piece together their first two-game winning streak of the season, matching up against their rivals from Lubbock. Unfortunately, Amarillo came up just short losing 4-2 in front of a 2,716-person Jungle crowd.
The Gorillas and Cotton Kings were battling for the fourth time of the year and for the second time in just an eight day stretch. Lubbock handed Amarillo its first shutout of the year, 2-0, at home on November 19th. The man in net for the Cotton Kings that night, turning away 33 shots, was rookie Brett Koscielny, while the Gorillas countered with Shawn Degagne. Seven nights later, the two would square off once again.
Both teams played relatively even in the first period, Lubbock out-shooting Amarillo 14-9, but it was the Cotton Kings breaking the scoreless tie nearly 14 minutes in while Gorillas' captain Mark DeSantis was in the penalty box for slashing. Forward Bobby Brown earned his fourth goal of the year, third with the man-advantage, when he blasted a top-shelf score on Degagne with help from Emery Olauson and Matt McNeely.
Nearly ten minutes later, early in the second period, it was Amarillo's turn on the power play but the result would be the same. Lubbock's Barry Horman took a pass off a loose puck from Kyle Nosan, stormed into the right end of the ice, shot on Degagne and followed his own rebound with an alert wraparound goal, catching Degagne out of the net. Horman's goal was his fourth of the season and first short-handed. It was also his second goal of the year against Amarillo.
Lubbock extended its lead to 3-0 just over eight minutes later when defenseman Matt McNeely slapped a shot from the blue-line, his first professional goal and another with the Cotton Kings on the power play.
With time winding down in the second, the Gorillas began chipping away at the Cotton Kings' lead, scoring with just 1:04 to go when Bryan Lachapelle tipped home a Joey Sewell miss for his third goal of the year. Sewell and Rich Hansen each earned assists. The goal was Amarillo's first against Lubbock in just over 120 minutes of previous play.
Amarillo went on to out-shoot Lubbock in the second period 22-11 but could not muster any scores on four power play opportunities.
The Gorillas continued putting pressure on the Cotton Kings in the third, again out-shooting their division rivals 13-8 (44-33 overall). Shawn Degagne and his defense were responding on the ice but the offense continued to struggle until there were just under five minutes remaining, at which point Derek Hahn batted a puck out of the air and passed Brett Koscielny to reduce the Lubbock lead to 3-2. The goal was Hahn's team-leading tenth and his line-mates, Scott Wray and Brent Hughes, were credited with helpers.
Amarillo pulled Degagne with nearly one minute to play in favor of an extra skater but the move was made to no avail as Lubbock's Josh Anderson scored an empty-netter from his own blue-line with only one second to play to give the Cotton Kings a 4-2 win. The goal was the rookie forward's third.
The Gorillas were well disciplined, taking only 12 penalty minutes, a season-best, but struggled on both the power play (0-for-7) and the penalty kill (3-of-5).
Shawn Degagne took the loss, dropping his record to 3-4-1 while stopping 29 shots and allowing three goals. Meanwhile, Brett Koscielny played a full 60 minutes, blocked 42 shots and improved to 4-2-0 on the year.
Amarillo remains in third place in the Southwest Division with a 4-8-2 record for 10 points. Lubbock holds a 9-7-1 (19 points) first place lead, two points ahead of Odessa (7-5-3). The Gorillas do, however, hold games in hand on both of their division mates.
The Gorillas hit the road for a trio of contests this week, playing at Odessa Thursday, Oklahoma City Friday and Fort Worth on Sunday.
Amarillo Gorillas Hockey Presented by NewsChannel 10 on Thursday will be broadcast on 1440 AM The Score with Gorillas Pre-Game set to begin at 6:45 pm live from the Ector County Coliseum. Friday's broadcast begins at 7:15 pm and Sunday is set for an early 2:45 pm start. The games will also be available at www.amarillogorillas.com and on CHLTV (www.chltv.com).
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- Shots High, Goals Low - Amarillo Gorillas
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