Scorpions squander early lead, face Odessa tonight

AMARILLO, Texas —The New Mexico Scorpions opened a six-game, 11-day road trip that will determine if hey have any chance of winning the Southwest Division of the Central Hockey League with a 7-3 loss at last-place Amarillo on Thursday.

The Scorpions, who have already clinched a playoff spot, gave up four power play goals, including three straight in the second and third periods when they surrendered an early 2-0 lead. Amarillo would go on to score five consecutive goals in an 11:21 span in the final two periods to knock New Mexico three points back in the division race.

Arizona reclaimed the division lead with a 6-1 victory at Odessa on Thursday. The Sundogs have 68 points, one better than second-place Odessa and three more than the Scorpions.

New Mexico plays at Odessa in a 6:05 p.m. game on Friday, while Arizona is idle. The game will be broadcast on 610-AM The Sports Animal and on the CHL Network.

New Mexico used the power play to its advantage in the first period, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Erik Johnson and Konrad Reeder, the latter coming with just 0.2 seconds on the clock. Aaron MacInnis had an assist on each goal.

But the momentum ended there. Amarillo’s Matt Miller capitalized on a Scorpion’s turnover for his ninth goal of the season with 5:27 left in the second period, and the Gorillas tied the game on Shaun Arvai’s shot from the blue line with 2:49 remaining. Amarillo took the lead for good when Chris Lipsett beat Mike Minard to the glove side with 49 seconds left in the period.

Any hopes for a New Mexico comeback were shattered on goals by David Nimmo and Austin Sutter, with Scorpions’ nemesis Bill Vandermeer getting an assist on each. After Craig Macdonald’s attempted pass to Reeder bounced off defenseman Chad Grisdale and into his own net, Amarillo closed out the scoring by Nimmo and Trevor Read.

Amarillo outshot the Scorpios 53-37, including a whopping 24-7 advantage in the final period. And the Gorillas did all of their damage on the power play despite having more penalties (11-9) and minutes (25-21) than the Scorpions.

For complete statistics and standings, go to www.CentralHockeyLeague.com