New Mexico eyes first place

Scorpions rally to beat Odessa, take on Arizona next

ODESSA, Texas – Down two goals and three points in the hunt for a division title, the New Mexico Scorpions came up with one big win Friday night.

New Mexico scored five straight goals in the second and third periods, including four in the final 20 minutes, to rally past Odessa 5-3 in a key Central Hockey League game. The victory moves the Scorpions into a second-place tie with the Jackalopes, one point behind Arizona.

Depending on what the Sundogs do tonight at Amarillo and Odessa’s result at Corpus Christi, New Mexico’s game at Arizona on Tuesday night could be for first place in the Southwest Division.

All three teams have clinched playoff spots, but the standings are important for playoff seeding and matchups. Laredo leads the conference with 79 points and is likely to be the top seed in the playoffs, meaning they would have home-ice advantage over any of the three Southwest Division opponents.

Laredo is 22-7-1 at home this season, compared to New Mexico (20-7-3), Odessa (19-8-2) and Arizona (17-8-1). Odessa has lost two straight home games and three in a row overall, including a 5-2 decision at New Mexico on Tuesday.

The remaining schedule does favor Arizona, which has eight games left (compared to seven for the other contenders) and plays six of them at home. Odessa has three home contests remaining, New Mexico two.

But the Scorpions are still in contention thanks to an overall team effort. Five different players had goals as New Mexico rallied from a 2-0 deficit after one period on the second night of a six-game road trip.

Dominic Leveille had an assist and a power play goal in the opening 10 minutes to help the Jackalopes to a 2-0 lead after the first period. Both goals, including Josh Chase’s to open the scoring, came on rebounded shots. Chase’s goal from the blue line 7:11 into the contest and Leveille’s score on a bouncing puck less than two minutes later put Odessa ahead after the opening period.

Aaron Macinnis’ power play goal with 7:04 left in the second period, off assists from Dominic Osman and Konrad Reeder, broke the ice for the Scorpions. And over the next 20 minutes, New Mexico would break the hearts of most of the 2,645 fans in attendance with three rebound goals of its own.

First, it was Kevin Harvey’s goal 1:51 into the period, tipping in a MacInnis shot (with Justin Todd also getting an assist) that tied the game 2-2.

Next came two power play goals. Reeder’s rebound of a Chris Robertson shot (assist to Osman) put the Scorpions ahead to stay. Craig Macdonald’s 25th goal of the season, a second-chance shot off the sticks of Ross McCain and Erik Johnson, increased the margin to 4-2.

Team captain Vladimir Hartinger capped the night with an unassisted empty net goal with 25 seconds left. Odessa’s Colin Circelli scored a meaningless goal from a 6-on-5 setup with six seconds left for the final margin.

Friday’s offensive show included a 59-47 shots-on-goal advantage for New Mexico, which was 3-for-8 on the power play compared to 1-for-9 for Odessa. Both teams had plenty of chances: New Mexico was whistled for 11 infractions for 22 minutes of penalty time; Odessa 10 for 20 minutes.

Tuesday’ game at Arizona will air on 610 AM The Sports Animal and on the CHL network. For complete statistics and standings, go to www.CentralHockeyLeague.com.

The Playoff Race

Here is the remaining schedule for the three contending teams in the Southwest Division race including Friday's results:

1. Arizona, 68 points (8 games, 6 at home) 3/8 at Amarillo; 3/11 New Mexico; 3/14 Amarillo; 3/15 Amarillo; 3/18 at New Mexico; 3/19 Rocky Mountain; 3/21 Odessa; 3/22 Odessa

2. New Mexico, 67 points (7 games, 2 at home)  3/11 at Arizona; 3/14 at Colorado; 3/15 at Rocky Mountain; 3/16 at Wichita; 3/18 Arizona; 3/21 at Amarillo; 3/22 Amarillo.

2. Odessa, 67 points (7 games, 3 at home) ; 3/8 at Corpus Christi; 3/11 at Texas; 3/19 Rio Grande Valley; 3/14 Corpus Christi; 3/18 Amarillo; 3/21 at Arizona; 3/22 at Arizona.