Tornado Weekly
November 28, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
The Texas Tornado celebrated their Thanksgiving week with three games, all against the Odessa Jackalopes, who are spending their first season in the NAHL. The Tornado came away victorious in a shooutout at Dr Pepper Arena on Wednesday while Odessa flipped the script and did the same on its home ice two days later. But Texas managed a win in Saturday night's rubber match to improve 16-3-6, good for second in the South Division. In going 2-0-1 last week, the Tornado have now earned points in their last 12 games.
Wednesday, November 23rd- Tornado edge Odessa in a shootout, 4-3 On a Wednesday night where head coach Tony Curtale admitted his team did not play its best game, the Texas Tornado picked up a 4-3 shootout victory over the Odessa Jackalopes at Dr Pepper Arena. Both teams got their share of shots on goal, but Joakim Jutras stopped 25 of 28 shots in the victory and pushed his record to 10-1-3 in his rookie season. Tornado captain Jack Prince opened the scoring when he converted on a wraparound just 38 seconds into the game. Odessa's Sheldon Taylor tied the score later in the first, but a second-period goal by Drew Allen gave the Tornado another one-goal lead. At the 4:19 mark of the third period, CJ Reuschlein scored to make it a 3-1 game. The Jackalopes answered back with a pair of goals - another by Taylor, the other from Willie Faust-to tie the game and force overtime. Neither team would falter in the five-minute OT, so they went to a shootout. Just one goal was scored there, and it was Prince in the opening round who gave Texas the 4-3 victory.
Friday, November 25th- Tornado stymied by Odessa's Hellebuyck, lose 2-1 in shootout
48 hours after the Tornado beat the Jackalopes in a shootout, the roles were reversed and Odessa earned the bonus point on Friday. Texas struggled to decipher the puzzle that was Jackalopes goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who made 48 saves to drop the Tornado in a shootout, 2-1. Reid Mimmack did his part in net for the Tornado, but his 31 saves weren't enough to earn the victory as his record fell to 5-1-3. Hellebuyck stopped all 32 shots he faced in the first two periods alone. Mimmack was perfect through 40 minutes as well, and the Tornado took the lead at the 10:17 mark of the third thanks to a goal credited to CJ Reuschlein. It appeared that Mychal Monteith would pick for his first tally as a member of the Tornado after he shot the puck from the right-wing circle, but Reuschlein was ruled to have deflected the puck in for the goal. Once again, Odessa came from behind to force a tie score. Ryan Atkinson scored the game-tying goal with exactly three minutes remaining. Overtime did not settle the tie, so for the second straight game, Texas and Odessa went to a shotoout. Jack Prince scored to open the shootout once again, but he was the lone Tornado player to beat Hellebuyck. Odessa, meanwhile, got goals from both Willie Faust and Jalen Krogman to earn the victory.
Saturday, November 26th- Tornado shut down Jackalopes for 3-0 victory
The Tornado got goals from three of their lighter scorers on Saturday, all within 2:59 seconds of each other, to come away with a 3-0 victory against the Odessa Jackalopes. Just 24 hours after the Tornado were stopped 48 times by Odessa goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, Texas was able to get three goals in rapid succession for the win. Joakim Jutras earned his third shutout of the season and made 22 saves to improve to 11-1-3 on the season. Texas scored all of its goals in the middle stages of the second period on markers from Skyler Spiller, Mitchell McPherson, and John Kirtland. Spiller and McPherson both have two goals on the season while Kirtland's wrist shot from the point gave him his first of 2011-2012.
Upcoming Games and Promotions
The Tornado will have just three home games in December, all of them coming against the Corpus Christi Ice Rays. Texas will play Corpus Christi, who beat the Tornado in their only two meetings so far this season, 10 times in 2011-2012. The first set of games at Dr Pepper Arena will be December 9th and 10th. The Tornado will also be hosting their holiday party on the 10th and will give out holiday ornaments to the first 1500 fans in attendance. There will also be a postgame skate with the players, Ike the Polar Bear, and a special appearance from Santa Claus. Before those games, however, Texas will be on the road this weekend to play a pair of games against the New Mexico Mustangs.
North American Hockey League Stories from November 28, 2011
- Jr. K-Wings Weekly - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Cats beat Bulls in OT - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Bulls Rally to Top 'Runners - Topeka Pilots
- Rays Report: Weekend Split - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Bulls' Third Period Burst Dooms 'Runners - Topeka Pilots
- Tornado Weekly - Texas Tornado
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