Tornado blank IceRays 5-0 behind Kruger's 22 saves
Published on March 18, 2011 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
22 saves from goaltender Jimmy Kruger and three points from Taylor gave the Texas Tornado a convincing 5-0 shutout win during their regular season home finale in front of 2,032 fans at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco on Friday. The win moved the Tornado back into 2nd place in the South Division with 76 points, two points ahead of Amarillo.
The opening period went scoreless for both teams, but both team's power plays had their chances. The best Tornado chance of the 1st period came off the stick of Taylor Herndon, who was denied in the low slot by âRays goaltender Pheonix Copley. At the other end, Tornado goaltender Jimmy Kruger was equally as good, stopping two âRays power plays as the Tornado outshot Corpus Christi 9-6 in the period.
The Tornado dominated the majority of the 2nd period, narrowing missing a chance to take an early lead, as on a power play Jimmy Murray rang a shot off the crossbar. However, the Tornado would not be denied as a great behind the back pass from Joseph Mottiqua to Taylor Herndon in the low slot saw Herndon snap a shot past Copley's low glove hand for a 1-0 Tornado lead. It took less than a minute later for the Tornado increase the lead to 2-0 as Seth Johnson threaded the needle on a great pass to Jimmy Murray at the top of the crease and Murray roofed one over Copley for his 3rd goal of the season. Two fights ensued the remainder of the period as John Kirtland scrapped to a draw with Cody Milligan and Seth Blair got the best of Tornado defenseman Tom Rizzardo.
The Tornado domination in the 3rd period continued with a goal less than four minutes in as Taylor Herndon scored his second of the night, as he got a pass from Solorzano and deked out Copley to make it 3-0. The middle of the period was controlled by the Tornado defense, led by Kruger. Kruger shut the door time after time as his recent hot play continued. Texas made it 4-0, as Ralfs Freibergs found John Kirtland as the point as Kirtland blasted a slapshot past Copley for his first goal in a Tornado uniform. Jack Prince made it 5-0, as he got a nice pass from Marc Biggs and wristed a shot past Copley's glove to increase his point streak to 10 games. Kruger stopped all 22 shots for his 3rd shutout of the year.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2011
- Wings Finally Top Bruins - Austin Bruins
- Wild Routs Monsters, 6-2 - Wenatchee Wild
- Stars overcome, win in OT - Traverse City North Stars
- Tornado blank IceRays 5-0 behind Kruger's 22 saves - Texas Tornado
- Tornado Shutdown Corpus Christi In 5-0 Victory - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Janesville Jets Awards Banquet March 30th - Janesville Jets
- Bulls Look to Lock-Up 2nd Place this Weekend - Amarillo Bulls
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
