Tornado downed 5-3 by Bulls in fourth straight loss
February 25, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
A third-period comeback was too much for the Texas Tornado, who lost to the Amarillo Bulls by a score of 5-3 on Saturday. Jack Prince picked up the league lead in goals with his 34th and 35th of the season, while Drew Allen added a goal of his own. Hunter Leisner started in net for the second straight night and stopped 35 of 40 shots in the game. With the loss, the Tornado losing streak now sits at four games, with all of those losses coming against Amarillo.
Just as they did on Friday night, the Bulls opened the scoring early on in the first period. John Gustaffson passed the puck to John Rey at the far point, who sent a slapshot through traffic and past Leisner for the opening goal of the game at 2:21 of the first period.
Just 15 seconds later, however, a fight between Nick Neville and Ryan Taylor resulted in a Tornado power-play after Taylor received 17 minutes in penalties. Marc Biggs, who had two goals on Friday, had his initial shot stopped, but Jack Prince was there on the rebound to put home the puck and tie the score at 3:06 of the first.
Amarillo regained the lead with less than four minutes left in the period, and did so on a goal scored by Mike Erickson. A Tornado turnover gave the Bulls the puck in the Texas zone, and though Leisner made a couple of saves, he was unable to quell the scramble in front as Erickson poked it over the line and made it a 2-1 game.
With the first period coming to a close, Texas drew even again, on Prince's second goal of the game. After taking a pass in the neutral zone from Jordan Greenberg, Prince came across the Amarillo blue line and fired a wrist shot past the glove hand of Greuhl to tie the game with just 35 seconds remaining in the opening period.
It remained 2-2 for most of the second, as well, but with just under two minutes remaining in the period, Texas took its first lead of the weekend. After Prince was able to get the puck behind the net to Jordan Greenberg, Greenberg found Drew Allen waiting in the slot. Allen put it off the cross bar and in for the goal, giving the Tornado a 3-2 lead after two periods of play.
The Tornado maintained the lead for the majority of the period, but at the 11:43 mark, Amarillo began its comeback. With the Tornado on the power-play, Taylor Herndon was robbed on a wraparound attempt. With the rebound sitting loose outside the crease, Matt Johnson took control and skated the puck end-to-end before putting a backhand past Leisner for the game-tying goal.
Just under five minutes later, John Rey scored his second goal in as many nights and gave the Bulls a 4-3 lead. Gustafsson had the puck at the right-wing boards before snapping it across the ice to Rey, who was waiting in the faceoff circle. Rey settled the puck and put it past Leisner for what was the eventual game-winning goal. With 48 seconds left, an empty net goal by TJ Sarcona provided the Bulls with some insurance, as they went on to their fourth straight victory over the Tornado.
The Tornado return to the ice next Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Landon Arena for a pair of games against the Topeka Roadrunners.
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North American Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2012
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