Sundogs Lose 7-3, Fall One Point Back of Corpus Christi for Final Playoff Spot

Published on March 5, 2009 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs opened a three-game set against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Wednesday night at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Looking to increase their lead over Corpus Christi for the South's fifth and final playoff spot, Arizona dropped its second-straight game to the Killer Bees, falling 7-3. Paired with a 4-3 IceRays shootout win over the Laredo Bucks, Arizona now trails the Corpus Christi club by one point for the fifth playoff spot with seven games remaining in the regular season.

Arizona opened an early 1-0 lead Wednesday night as Tyler Liebel found the back of the net for his sixth of the year from Kyle Hood and Karl Sellan just over two minutes into the contest. In his first game back at Tim's Toyota Center since suffering an injury in a game against the Rapid City Rush on December 27, Liebel circled from behind the net and slipped a forehand shot past Wylie Rogers. Rio Grande Valley responded with three unanswered before the close of the period to take a two-goal lead into the first intermission. Evan Rankin tied the game at 1-1 three minutes later with his fourth goal in three games against the Sundogs this season. Stationed at the top of the crease with his team on its first power play of the night, Rankin one-timed a Grant Goeckner-Zoeller centering feed from behind the net past Marco Emond for his 24th of the year. Rio Grande Valley took their first lead of the game with 3:10 to play in the opening frame as Matt Byrnes netted his fourth goal since joining the Bees midway through the season. Kurtis Dulle followed with his second point in a two minute span, converting for his club's second man-advantage tally of the period. Assisting on the late goal with Topher Scott, Nathan Ansell grabbed his second helper of the frame to close out scoring. The Killer Bees outshot the Sundogs 10-7 through the first 20 minutes of play.

Rio Grande Valley stretched its lead to 5-1 with two goals early in the second before Arizona would find the back of the net for their second of the night. Dan McGoff tallied his first pro goal after a four-year career at Boston University to give the Bees a commanding 4-1 advantage 4:40 into the middle period, sending Emond to the bench in place of backup netminder Joel Gistedt. Dulle and Byrnes each grabbed their third points of the contest less than three minutes later as Dulle sent a shot on net from outside the blue line that caught Gistedt off guard, causing the rookie backstop to misplay the puck. Following Dulle's second of the night, Emond was sent back to the ice, replacing Gistedt after just 2:30 of playing time. Second-year forward Mark Kolanos pulled his club back within three with his 20th of the year at the 12:47 mark. Defenseman Jon Landry gained the offensive zone and sent a wrist shot off the near post before Kolanos directed the rebound into the net with a backhand effort from the faceoff dot. Aaron Lee collected his team's third power play goal of the game to give the Killer Bees a 6-2 lead after 40 minutes of play. Arizona looked to have gathered its third goal of the game with 3:50 to play in the second, but referee Mark Lemelin waived it off, ruling the puck was directed into the net with a high stick.

The two teams each tallied once in the final frame en route to the 7-3 final. Goeckner-Zoeller recorded his second point of the night with his club's fourth power play goal of the contest with three minutes remaining in regulation. Irving added a shorthanded tally for his 31st of the season late in the game.

Emond fell back to .500, suffering his 16th loss of the season with 27 saves on 33 shots. Backup netminder Gistedt made one save on two shots in two-and-a-half minutes of action. Rogers improved to 15-8-3 on the year, stopping 25 of 28 shots. Arizona was held scoreless on six power play opportunities while the Killer Bees converted on half of their man-advantage chances, finishing 4-for-8 on the power play.

With the loss, the Sundogs (24-29-4) sit one point back of the Corpus Christi IceRays for the Southern Conference's fifth and final playoff spot. Arizona hosts the Killer Bees in the second of three-straight Friday night at Tim's Toyota Center. Game time is set for 7:05pm. Tickets start at just $14 and 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.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2009


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