NORTH AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE: Jackalopes put up fight in loss to Bulls
Friday night certainly was when the Odessa Jackalopes and Amarillo Bulls met for the seventh time this season.
There were four ejections, more than 100 minutes in penalties, breakaway and power-play goals for both sides and, unfortunately for the Jackalopes, one uncontrolled rebound off the rear glass.
That proved to be the difference as the Bulls skated away with a 3-2 victory in front of an announced crowd of 3,297 at the Ector County Coliseum. The Jackalopes are 0-7-0 this season against Amarillo.
Tyler Poulsen and Josh Obregon scored third-period goals for the Jackalopes (14-20-5), who will travel to face the Bulls at 6 p.m. on Sunday in Amarillo.
Brooks Behling, Matt Johnson and Clint Carlisle scored for the Bulls (31-3-7), who have the best record in the North American Hockey League.
“The first period was great. I thought we really played well,” Jackalopes coach Paul Gillis said. “Then in the second we spent too much time in our own end and took too many penalties.
“And then, with eight minutes to go, we’re in a hockey game and take a four-minute penalty and that’s something you can’t do. We killed it off and were able to get the power-play goal after that to get to within one.”
The Jackalopes return to the ice at 7:05 p.m. tonight when they play host to Corpus Christi, which sits eight points in front of Odessa for the fourth, and final, playoff spot in the South Division. The Jackalopes have 21 games remaining in the regular season.
The Bulls started the scoring with a transition goal 8:02 into the first period when Amarillo’s Ryan Cole carried the puck up the center of the ice and then fed Mike Erickson as he crossed from left to right. Erickson skated down the right-wing boards, drawing defensemen to him.
That allowed Behling to drive down the slot and when Erickson fed the puck into the middle of the ice, Behling quickly redirected it past Odessa goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
In the second period, Cole again was involved in a scoring play, this time taking a shot that caromed off the glass behind Hellebuyck, who turned to try and catch the puck out of the air.
As he was trying to get the puck in his glove, it was batted around and finally fell to the ice in front of the right post. That’s where Johnson banged it into the open net with 5:01 left in the second period for a 2-0 lead.
All this came just minutes after Amarillo’s Joe Kozlak and Odessa’s Tyler Minx were ejected after Kozlak crashed into Hellebuyck in the crease. Minx came to his netminder’s defense and when referee Michael Taylor had sorted things out, both Kozlak and Minx were done for the night.
“We are a team that takes some penalties, but tonight we took some undisciplined penalties,” Bulls assistant coach Rocky Russo said. “But that’s Odessa, too.
“It’s a blue-collar team that works hard and is going to hit you and make you uncomfortable out there. We’ve been fortunate against them in some close games and I really like what they are doing down here.”
The Bulls made it 3-0 just 47 seconds into the third period on Carlisle’s breakaway goal and Odessa couldn’t fight all the way back.
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>> Bulls 3, Jackalopes 2
Amarillo 1 1 1—3
Odessa 0 0 2—2
First Period—1, Amarillo, Brooks Behling (Mike Erickson, Ryan Cole) 8:02. Penalties—Ryan Atkinson, Jackalopes (high sticking), 5:06; Lawrence Cornellier, Jackalopes (roughing), 10:09; Sam Johnson, Amarillo (roughing), 10:09; Alex Ostrowski, Jackalopes (delay of game), 10:09.
Second Period—2, Amarillo, Matt Johnson (Ryan Cole) 14:59 (pp). Penalties—Alex Ostrowski, Jackalopes (tripping), 1:40; Karl Beckman, Amarillo (delay of game), 4:18; Joe Kozlak, Amarillo (roughing), 11:14; Joe Kozlak, Amarillo (roughing double minor), 11:14; Joe Kozlak, Amarillo (fighting game misconduct), 11:14; Tyler Minx, Jackalopes (fighting instigator), 11:14; Tyler Minx, Jackalopes (fighting), 11:14; Tyler Minx, Jackalopes (game misconduct), 11:14; Connor Hellebuyck, Jackalopes (roughing), 11:14; Lawrence Cornellier, Jackalopes (slashing), 12:05; Broosk Behling, Amarillo (roughing), 12:05; Ryan Atkinson, Jackalopes (high sticking), 13:30; Omar Mullan, Amarillo (abuse of officials misconduct), 13:30; Sam Johnson, Amarillo (hooking), 16:14; Brooks Behling, Amarillo (elbowing), 13:39.
Third Period—3, Amarillo, Clint Carlisle (Mike Davis) :47; 4, Odessa, Tyler Poulsen (Curt Rau) 10:18. 5, Odessa, Josh Obregon (Jalen Krogman, Mikko Virtanen) 17:23 (pp). Penalties—Josh Obregon, Jackalopes (slashing), 3:56; Bench, Amarillo (too many men, served by Ryan Cole), 8:01; Alex Ostrowski, Jackalopes (checking from behind double minor), 12:38; Alex Ostrowski, Jackalopes (checking from behind game misconduct), 12:28; Ryan Cole, Amarillo (holding), 16:53; Brooks Behling, Amarillo (spearing), 16:53; Brooks Behling, Amarillo (spearing misconduct), 16:54.
Shots on Goal—Amarillo, 10-14-10—34; Odessa, 12-3-8—23. Power-play opportunities—Amarillo, 1 of 8; Odessa 1 of 7. Goaltenders—Amarillo, Mike Taffe; Odessa, Connor Hellebuyck; A—3,297. T—2:22. Referee—Michael Taylor. Linesmen—Richard Lembo, Brian Earnest.
