Sundogs Dominate Blaze

December 31, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bloomington Blaze News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Bloomington Blaze, fueled by Mid-Illini Credit Union, gave up the most goals of the season in their worst loss of the campaign, 8-2 to the Arizona Sundogs at Tim's Toyota Center.

For the second straight game, the Sundogs scored in the first minute as Derek LeBlanc caught a wide bounce out of the face-off in his own zone and skated to the other end to wrist a shot inside the right post only 37 seconds into the contest. David Gilbert answered as he poked a sliding puck deep in the slot inside the right post with 17:46 remaining in the opening period. Arizona quickly countered out of a face-off in the Bloomington zone with a backhand goal by Chad Nehring to give the hosts a 2-1 with 12:37 left in the first chapter. Nehring increased the Arizona lead to 3-1 with 7:48 remaining in the first period when he tapped in a shot that had careened off the crossbar. Nehring completed his hat trick when he found a loose puck in the Bloomington crease before anyone else with 23 seconds left in the opening period to give the Sundogs a 4-1 lead at the first intermission.

Dan Dunn replaced Pier-Olivier Pelletier in the Blaze goal to start the second period, but the Sundogs scored in the opening minute of the second period on an easy tap-in by Ron Meyers off a feed at the doorstep to increase the hosts' lead to 5-1. Nehring registered his fourth goal of the night with a wraparound with 16:27 left in the middle period for a 6-1 advantage. Jon Booras put the Blaze on the board with 13:54 left in the second on a running wrister from the slot to cut the deficit to 6-2. Arizona answered with 10:50 remaining in the second on a drive by Johan Ryd into the upper right corner for a 7-2 Sundogs lead. Matt Tassone capped a drive with 2:57 left before the second intermission with a drive from the left dot to give the hosts an 8-2 lead through 40 minutes.

The Blaze fall to 16-13-1 while the Sundogs improve to 13-15-4.

The Blaze return home to face the Sundogs on Friday and Saturday with face-offs scheduled for 7:05 p.m. each night. Saturday is the annual Guns 'n' Hoses Night, with the game between local police and firefighters in the afternoon and special jerseys worn by the Blaze during the game to be auctioned following the contest. The Junior Blaze return to action on Thursday and Friday with home games at 3 p.m. each day against the NWO Grrrowl. Group and multi-game packages are available by calling 309-TC SPORT (827-7678). Single-game and game day ticket information is available through the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office at 309-434-2679. More information on the Blaze can be found on Twitter (BLMBlaze), Facebook and www.bloomingtonblaze.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2012


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