Sundogs Move Back into First Place with 6-5 Victory

Published on January 8, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release


PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs skated into Hidalgo, Texas Tuesday night to take on the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, looking to snap a five-game winless streak, their longest of the season. Tyler Redenbach and Jon Landry each collected two goals and Alex Leavitt added two assists as the Sundogs topped the Killer Bees 6-5. With the win, Arizona (20-9-3) moves back into a tie for first place in the Southwest Division with the Odessa Jackalopes.

Arizona opened scoring 4:41 into the first period as Tyler Redenbach scored on his second chance following passes from Alex Leavitt and Karl Sellan. Killer Bees netminder David Lemanowicz made the initial save but Redenbach lifted the rebound home for his 13th marker of the season. Rio Grande Valley evened the score at 1-1 three minutes later on a Josh Bonar tally from former Sundog Ladislav Kouba and Mark O'Leary. The Sundogs quickly regained a one-goal lead as forward-turned-defenseman Jon Landry gathered an unassisted goal for his club's first powerplay score of the game 21 seconds past the nine minute mark.

Just 42 seconds into the middle period, Redenbach notched his second of the game to give the visiting Sundogs a 3-1 advantage. Leavitt and defenseman Dan Laperriere assisted on Arizona's second goal with the man advantage. Rio Grande Valley cut the Sundogs' lead back to one at the 4:29 mark as Travis Banga collected his tenth of the year on setup passes from TJ Eason and Rob Voltera. A minute-and-a-half passed before Arizona regained a two-goal lead as rookie forward Jason Visser easily pushed a broken-play pass past Lemanowicz for a 4-2 lead. Lemanowicz committed to a cross-ice pass from Redenbach that never made its way across the goal crease. Veteran defenseman Chris Bartolone was also credited with an assist on the play. With 6:46 to play in the period, Landry tallied his second of the game, this time shorthanded, as Rob Lehtinen fed the streaking defenseman who snuck behind the Killer Bees defense. David Schlemko collected a helper along with Lehtinen to give Arizona a commanding three-goal advantage. Bonar struck again for Rio Grande Valley at 17:22 of the second as he skated in 2-on-1 with Voltera for his 14th goal of the year. The assist would be Voltera's second of the period.

Rio Grande Valley cut the Sundogs' lead back to one just 24 seconds into the game in grand fashion as Bonar collected his third of the game for the hat trick. Jeremy Van Hoof and Voltera tallied helpers on the Bonar powerplay tally. The Killer Bees pulled Lemanowicz in favor of an extra attacker in the closing minutes but Olivier Latendresse would gain control of a loose puck in the neutral zone and feed Tyler Liebel as he skated down the sideboards for the empty net tally and his first since being traded to Arizona on Jan. 2. The Killer Bees' Mark O'Leary collected an unassisted tally with six seconds to play to close out scoring in the game.

Bill Zaniboni appeared in his 20th game for Arizona and stopped 31 of 36 shots for his eighth win on the season. David Lemanowicz blocked 36 of 41 shots in the loss for Rio Grande Valley. The Sundogs finished 2-for-6 with the man advantage and added a shorthanded tally, while the Killer Bees converted on one of seven powerplay chances. Arizona outshot Rio Grande Valley by a 42-36 mark.

Arizona now heads to Laredo for a Friday night matchup against the Southern Conference-leading Bucks. Laredo leads the season series 2-1, with the road club winning each game to date. Game time is set for 6:30pm (Arizona time) but will be tape-delayed until 7:00pm on 96.7 FM The Wolf, the Official Broadcast Home of the Arizona Sundogs.

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2008


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