Sundogs Regain Sole Possession of First Place with 6-1 Win
Published on March 6, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release
ODESSA, Texas - In a night featuring all four Southwest Division teams, the Arizona Sundogs and Odessa Jackalopes faced off Thursday evening at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, Texas in a battle for first place. The Sundogs carried a 30-19-6 record and 66 points coming into the contest, one point back of the division-leading Jackalopes. Arizona used six goals Thursday night to top the Jackalopes by a 6-1 mark, regaining sole possession of first place with 68 points. Alex Leavitt collected three assists Thursday night to open a five-point cushion over Laredo's Jeff Bes for the CHL scoring title.
Arizona took the first lead of the game at 8:34 of the first period on their first powerplay chance of the night. CHL leading scorer Alex Leavitt and David Schlemko fed passes to veteran defenseman Dan Laperriere who fired a low shot past Jackalopes netminder Alexandre Vincent for his 14th tally of the season, three more than his 2006-07 season total. The league's top-rated powerplay increased its lead to 2-0 48 seconds later on their second man advantage of the evening. Head Coach and General Manager put forward Cory Urquhart on the right point for the powerplay and the strategic move worked in his favor. Urquhart fired a one-timer from the blue line over the glove of Vincent on a cross-ice pass from rookie forward Jason Visser for his seventh goal as a Sundog. Forward-turned-defenseman Jon Landry also collected an assist on the play. With 4:53 to play in the opening period, Odessa's Collin Circelli skated in alone on Marco Emond but was hooked en route and in turn awarded a penalty shot by referee Steve Cruickshank. Circelli picked up the puck at center ice and skated in moving right to left but Emond stayed patient and slid his right leg pad out, stopping Circelli's low forehand shot.
Arizona unloaded for four goals in the second period to take a commanding 6-1 lead into the second intermission. Just 21 seconds in and while skating four-on-four, Urquhart put a backhand shot on net that bounced behind Vincent, who couldn't locate the loose puck. Schelmko pinched from his defensive position and pushed the puck over the goal line for his tenth goal of the year, giving his club a three-goal lead. Tyler Liebel was also credited with an assist on the Schlemko tally. The Sundogs took a 4-0 lead with their second four-on-four goal of the game as Rob Lehtinen gained the offensive zone and dropped a pass to Laperriere who ripped a slap shot over Vincent for his second of the game at the 12:21 mark. Arizona then followed with its third powerplay goal 1:09 later to open a 5-0 lead as Visser beat Vincent with a wrist shot on setup passes from Chris Bartolone and Leavitt. With 3:24 to play in the second, the Sundogs pushed the score to 6-0 as Mark Kolanos redirected an Alex Leavitt shot from the point through Vincent for his 28th marker of the season. Schlemko also assisted on the play for his second assists and third point of the night. The Jackalopes broke Marco Emond's shutout bid with a powerplay goal at the 18:36 mark as Alex Dunn picked up a rebound in front of the net and lifted it over Emond. Sebastien Thinel and Dominic Leveille assisted on the man advantage tally for their club's first goal of the night. Through two periods of play, the Odessa Jackalopes held a 23-21 advantage in shots.
Odessa Head Coach Paul Gillis replaced starting netminder Alexandre Vincent with backup Mike Gorman to start the third period after Vincent gave up six goals on 21 shots through the first two periods of play. Neither team found the back of the net in the final period as the Sundogs topped the host Jackalopes 6-1.
Marco Emond appeared in net for Arizona and stopped 33 of 34 shots on net to improve to 16-6-0 on the season while Alexandre Vincent suffered the loss, surrendering six goals on 21 shots in 40 minutes of play. Mike Gorman replaced Vincent in the third period and stopped all five shots faced. The CHL's top powerplay converted on 75 percent of their chances to finish 3-for-4 with the man advantage while holding the Jackalopes to 1-for-5 on the powerplay.
With the win, Arizona moves back into first place in the Southwest Division, one point ahead of second place Odessa. The Sundogs now travel north to Amarillo to take on the Gorillas Saturday night at the Amarillo Civic Center. Game time is set for 6:05pm (Arizona time) and can be heard live on 96.7 FM The Wolf, the Official Broadcast Home of the Arizona Sundogs.
Central Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2008
- Amarillo Snaps Losing Skid, Beat Scorpions 7-3 - Amarillo Gorillas
- Scorpions Squander Early Lead - New Mexico Scorpions
- Sundogs Regain Sole Possession of First Place with 6-1 Win - Arizona Sundogs
- Hounds Make Moves - Youngstown SteelHounds
- Brahmas Have Big Weekend In Store - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Mr. Smith Goes To Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Stanley Cup Proclamation - Tulsa Oilers
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