Sundogs Drop Final Game Before CHL All-Star Break
January 12, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs skated in their last game before the All-Star break Saturday night, taking on the Southeast Division Austin Ice Bats at the Chaparral Ice Arena in Austin, Texas. Austin combined for six goals in the final two periods to top the Sundogs 6-2. Tyler Liebel and Jason Visser tallied for Arizona in the loss.
Arizona owned a one-goal lead after the first 20 minutes of play Saturday night as Tyler Liebel collected his second goal and fifth point with the Sundogs since being acquired by the Arizona club on Jan. 2. Chris Bartolone and Jon Landry worked the point while on the powerplay and the veteran Bartolone fired a shot from the blue line that Liebel grabbed and lifted past Miguel Beaudry to give the Sundogs a 1-0 lead with 1:54 to play in the opening frame.
Austin came out a different team in the second period, unloading for 24 shots on Arizona netminder Bill Zaniboni and collecting three goals in a seven minute span for a 3-1 lead. John Ronan opened scoring for Austin at 2:12 of the second on passes from Henry Kuster and R.G. Flath to tie the game at 1-1. Brendan Cook gave his club its first lead of the night 1:33 later with Ted Vandermeer collecting an assist on the go ahead goal. At the 6:40 mark, Vandermeer found the back of the net for his second point of the period and Austin's first powerplay goal of the night to give the Ice Bats a 3-1 lead. Darryl MacArthur was credited with a helper on the powerplay tally. Just past the midway point, Sundogs rookie Jason Visser cut into Austin's lead with his eighth goal of the season from all-stars Tyler Redenbach and Alex Leavitt. Through two periods of play, Austin held a 34-22 advantage in shots.
Austin added to its lead 5:32 into the third period as Kuster gathered his second point of the night on an unassisted tally to open scoring in the final frame. At the 13:05 mark, Flath notched his second point of the contest on passes from Kuster and John Neal to give his club a three-goal cushion with less than seven minutes to play. Former Sundog Mike Bartlett grabbed an unassisted powerplay marker with 2:27 to play for his club's sixth tally.
Bill Zaniboni appeared in net for Arizona, stopping 39 of 45 shots in the 6-2 loss. Miguel Beaudry was opposite Zaniboni Saturday night and deflected 27 of 29 shots for the win. The Sundogs converted on one of five powerplay chances while the Ice Bats finished 2-for-14 with the man advantage. The Sundogs collected a season-high 79 penalty minutes with 62 coming in the final period.
With the loss and an Odessa win over Amarillo, Arizona (20-10-4) drops to second place in the Southwest Division, just one point back of the first place Jackalopes. The team now has several days off as the Central Hockey League All-Star Game takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 16 in Broomfield, Colo. Arizona will host the Wichita Thunder on Friday, Jan. 18 at Tim's Toyota Center as Chris Greene and Cedric Bernier visit their former home for the first time since being traded. Tickets are available by phone at 1-866-4- GET-TIX (1-866-443-8849), on the internet at www.gettix.net and in person at the Tim's Toyota Center Box Office.
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