Sundogs Fall to Rayz Despite Putting 60 Shots on Net

Published on December 13, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - Owning the Southern Conference's best winning percentage (.725), the Arizona Sundogs traveled to South Texas to take on the Corpus Christi Rayz faced for the second time in eight days at the AmericanBank Center. The Sundogs dropped just their sixth game in regulation on the year despite outshooting the Rayz by a 60-26 in the game. Tyler Redenbach tallied a late goal and assist to keep his scoring streak alive at 19 games.

The Rayz gathered a 2-0 lead in the first period with both coming as a result of special teams' play. Arizona surrendered its first shorthanded goal of the season, the last team in the CHL to do so, as Justin Quenneville tallied an unassisted marker at the 9:04 mark for a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later, Corpus Christi took a 2-0 lead as forward Kevin Watters redirected a Geno Parrish shot from the point past Sundogs netminder Andrew Gallant. Niko Tuomi also notched an assist on the play to close out first period scoring.

Corpus Christi matched it opening period performance to increase its lead to 4-0 through the first 40 minutes of play Thursday night. Just 39 seconds into the middle frame, Quenneville collected his second tally of the night on setup passes from Brent Howarth and Joe Blaznek to give his club a 3-0 advantage. At 12:18 of the second, Grant Clafton gave the Rayz a commanding 4-0 lead, finding the back of the net with Jon Jankus and Kevin Watters being credited with helpers. Despite being held scoreless, Arizona held a 36-20 advantage in shots through two periods of play. Following the Clafton tally and allowing four goals on 14 shots, Sundogs Head Coach and General Manager Marco Pietroniro pulled Gallant in favor of goaltender Bill Zaniboni for the second time in three games.

With just 3:39 to play and after Rayz netminder Jason Tapp blocked 56 shots, forward Tyler Redenbach kept his point streak alive, tallying his tenth goal of the year, extending his league-high streak to 19 games. Defensemen Sean Sullivan and Chris Bartolone collected assists on the powerplay goal. The Sundogs grabbed their second of the game just 1:05 later as David Schlemko found the back of the net for Arizona's second powerplay goal of the game. Tyler Redenbach and Olivier Latendresse were credited with assists on the play. With Zaniboni pulled in place of an extra offensive skater, the Rayz notched their second shorthanded marker of the game as Jankus pushed the puck into the empty goal for the 5-2 win.

Sundogs netminder Andrew Gallant started in net for Arizona but was replaced just over midway through the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots. Jason Tapp appeared in net for Corpus Christi and stopped an overwhelming 58 of 60 shots for the win. The Sundogs finished 2-for-10 with the man advantage while the Rayz converted on 1-of-6 chances.

Arizona now travels North to Austin to take on the Austin Ice Bats tomorrow at 6:38pm (Arizona time). The game can be heard via tape-delay beginning at 7:00pm on 96.7 FM The Wolf, the Official Broadcast Home of the Arizona Sundogs.



Central Hockey League Stories from December 13, 2007


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