Sundogs Close Out Preseason with 6-3 Win

Published on October 11, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs and Wichita Thunder faced off in the final exhibition contest of each teams' preseason schedule Saturday night at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Cory Stillman registered two goals and two assists while linemate Joel Irving tallied two goals, including his second shorthanded tally of the preseason, to carry the Sundogs to a 6-3 win over visiting Wichita.

The Sundogs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first nine minutes of play Saturday night. Irving opened scoring for the Sundogs with his second and Arizona's third shorthanded marker of the weekend, sneaking behind the defense and sliding a low shot past Thunder goaltender Krister Toews 3:33 into the game. Kyle Hood was credited with the lone assist on the early tally. Just under three minutes later, Stillman converted on Arizona's first power play chance of the night on passes from defensive partners Jon Landry and Chris Bartolone. At the 9:04 mark, Irving and Stillman connected to give the Sundogs a three-goal cushion with Irving netting his second of the game. Wichita cut Arizona's lead back to two just past the midway point of the period on a Chris Shudo goal from Pascal Bedard and Chris Tarkir to close out scoring in the opening frame. Through the first 20 minutes of play, Arizona held a 10-7 advantage in shots.

The visiting Thunder pulled to within one goal early in the second period as defenseman Greg Cassista and forward Jason Duda combined to find Greg Genovese at the 2:29 mark for his first goal and second point of the two-game preseason series between Arizona and Wichita. The Sundogs answered two-and-a-half minutes later to regain a two-goal lead. Andre Selander was left open between the circles and fired a rebound past Toews for his second goal of the weekend. Stillman and Hood helped on the play for their third and second points of the game. The Thunder, while on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play, cut Arizona's lead back to one with less than two minutes to play in the second. Bedard sent a high shot from the point that found its way onto the stick of Duda who pushed the rebound past Sundogs netminder Marco Emond for his first goal and second point of the night. Alex Hager also assisted on the power play goal. The Sundogs outshot Wichita 12-7 in the middle frame for a two-period 22-14 advantage.

Tempers flared between the two clubs early on in the third period. Wichita's Chris Greene and Arizona's Tyler Liebel, who were traded for one and other last season, came together at the far boards and exchanging words and jabs. Liebel was handed two minutes for roughing and a ten-minute misconduct. Less than 30 seconds later, Sundogs' rookie forward Peter Cartwright and Tarkir traded blows and were both awarded four minutes for roughing. After 17 minutes of scoreless play in the final frame, Arizona pushed the score to 6-3 on late goals by Stillman and rookie Warren Galloway. Stillman first lit the lamp at the 17:03 mark with Jason Visser finding his way onto the score sheet with the lone assist. With 28 seconds to play, Galloway sent a wrist shot past Toews on setup passes from Landry and Rob Lehtinen to close out scoring.

Marco Emond appeared in net for Arizona and stopped 26 of 29 shots in the win while Krister Toews blocked 23 of 29 shots in the loss for Wichita. Arizona finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage while the Thunder was held to just one power play goal on 13 chances. Shots were even in the game at 29 apiece.

Arizona now prepares for Opening Night as they host Southwest Division foe the Odessa Jackalopes at Tim's Toyota Center on Friday, Oct. 17. Game time is set for 7:05pm. Tickets are available by phone at 1-866-4-GET-TIX (1-866-443-8849), online at www.gettix.net and in person at the Tim's Toyota Center Box Office.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from October 11, 2008


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