Topeka Bounces Jr Blues For Weekend Split
February 12, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Topeka Pilots News Release
The Topeka RoadRunners put together a solid effort on the road Saturday, cruising to a 5-1 win over the Springfield Jr. Blues.
Setting the tone early, the 'Runners got on the board just 1:20 into the game as Ryan White drove down the left wing and fired a shot that was initially turned aside but rebounded right up the middle where Dan Dupell blasted it home for his team leading 19th goal of the year. The 'Runners outshot the Jr. Blues 12-8 in the period, despite the fact Springfield had 7 minutes of power play time.
The second period is when Topeka put the game away. Andrew O'Leary fired a shot from the left circle past Gabe Antoni at 6:04 of the second period on a power play, then :28 seconds later Gage Hough blasted a onetimer from the right circle that gave Topeka a 3-0 lead. After killing off another 8 minutes of penalties in the second period alone, the RoadRunners scored again at 19:37 with Willem Nong-Lambert jamming home a loose puck set up by Dan Dupell and Jake Lynes and Topeka controlled the game, leading 4-0 after two periods. The 'Runners fired 17 shots at Antoni in the second period despite being shorthanded nearly half the period.
The 'Runners kept their collective foot on the gas in the third, growing the lead to 5-0 on a Sean Gaffney blast from the high slot at 8:46, assisted by Ben Bahe. Springfield was able to thwart Peter Traber's bid for his fourth shutout when Josef Pontasch tipped a cross blue line pass on the penalty kill setting himself up for a breakaway which he scored on with 3:27 left in the game for the final 5-1 margin. The 'Runners were 11/11 on the penalty kill, and 1/6 on the power play. Peter Traber stopped 29 shots, earning his 20th win of the season. Sean Gaffney extended his streak to 6 games with a point. Ryan White, already the franchise leader in career assists, moved to within two points of the all time RoadRunner career points record (121), shared by Josh Kamrass and Corey Stark. He is also now just 13 penalty minutes shy of the career franchise record of 339 held by Aaron Gens.
Topeka (31-13-2) moves back into second place, one point ahead of Texas who lost to Amarillo on Saturday. The 'Runners six game road trip heads north to Alaska where they will face the Fairbanks Ice Dogs (26-10-7) who are tied for first in the NAHL West. The games start at 10:30 pm Central Time (7:30 local time in AK) and will be available on countrylegends1069.com with streaming audio and also on FASTHockey.com with pay-per-view streaming video.
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North American Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2012
- North Stars Erupt in Third for 4-1 Victory - Traverse City North Stars
- Jacks Lose Second Straight To New Mexico, 4-1 - Odessa Jackalopes
- Kalamazoo Shuts Out Visiting Jamestown - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Topeka Bounces Jr Blues For Weekend Split - Topeka Pilots
- Bulls Sweep Texas Tornado with 3-2 Win - Amarillo Bulls
- Carey Scores Team-Leading 17th Goal - Wenatchee Wild
- Jacks' Offense Sputters In 4-1 Loss - Odessa Jackalopes
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