Sundogs fall to Odessa in first home loss of season

Published on November 3, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - Battling for the Central Hockey League's Southwest Division lead, the Arizona Sundogs and Odessa Jackalopes squared off Friday night at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. For the second straight game, and after beginning the season with one of the league's top power plays, the Sundogs were unable to score with the man advantage. Odessa dominated the opening frame and never looked back in the 4-1 victory, the Sundogs first home loss of the season.

Odessa dominated first half of the game, opening a three-goal lead before Arizona tallied its first marker of the night. At 4:19 of the first, John Kozoriz took passes from Josh Chase and John Osborne and found the back of the net to give his club an early 1-0 lead. At the 6:52 mark, the visiting Jackalopes added to their lead as Sebastien Thinel picked up the puck at his own blue line and outskated the Sundogs defense on the way to his seventh tally of the year. Just over midway through the opening frame, Odessa took a commanding 3-0 lead as Mario Joly attempted to dump the puck. With Sundogs netminder Bill Zaniboni leaving his crease, the puck took an awkward bounce off the glass, sliding across the goal line. Sixty-six seconds later Arizona defenseman Dan Laperriere finally put the home club on the scoreboard with a slap shot from the point. Tyler Redenbach and Alex Leavitt collected assists on the Sundogs' first goal of the night. With the assist, Redenbach has now notched at least one point in each of the Sundogs' first seven games in 2007-08.

The second period saw a tighter Arizona Sundogs team take the ice only to see Odessa regain a three-goal lead with just 37 seconds to play in the period. Thinel tallied his second of the game, this time on the man-advantage, from Dominic Leveille and Nathan Ward for a commanding 4-1 advantage going into the final period of play

Neither team was able to tally in the third but tempers escalated, with the two teams sharing a combined 50 penalty minutes. Robin Richards and Mario Joly collected fighting majors for Odessa while Arizona's Matt Suderman and Dusty Collins were tagged with five-minutes each for trading punches with the opposing club.

Sundogs netminder Bill Zaniboni appeared in his seventh straight game, blocking 30-of-34 shots in the loss while Alexandre Vincent received his second start for Odessa, stopping 25-of-26 for his second win. Odessa went 1-for-7 with the man advantage while Arizona was held scoreless for the second time this season, finishing 0-for-6. With the loss, Arizona falls to second place in the Southwest Division, one point behind first place Odessa.

The two teams face off again tomorrow at 7:05pm at Tim's Toyota Center. Tickets are still available by phone at 1-866-4-GET-TIX (1-866-443-8849), online at www.gettix.net or in person at the Tim's Toyota Center Box Office.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 3, 2007


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