Scorpions beat division leaders in overtime

By Eric Maddy
The Score

The New Mexico Scorpions beat a first-place team for the second straight night, defeating the Odessa Jackalopes 2-1 in overtime Saturday night in a Central Hockey League game Saturday night at the Santa Ana Star Center.

Chris Robertson's tip in shot wth 51 seconds left in the extra five-minute period gave New Mexico a three-game winning streak that started with a 5-3 road victory at Arizona on New Year's Eve. The Scorpions came back home to beat Arizona again by the same score on Friday night, knocking the Sundogs out of first place.

With the victory, New Mexico moved within nine points of first place Odessa and six of second-place Arizona, which lost its fifth straight game 3-2 in Amarillo on Saturday.

"I was in the garbage area, and I got the rebound there," Robertson said. "I put my stick on it and went to backhand it, and their d-man tried to take my stick out of the play. But the puck was already on my stick. It just went right into the net."

Defenseman David Simoes had an assist on both goals for the Scorpions. 

New Mexico took the lead with 4:25 left in the first period. Simoes intercepted an Odessa pass in the center of the ice just inside his own blue line, raced up the middle of the rink before finally veering to the left. That gave him room to feed Mitch Stephens, whose slap shot from straight on was his 10th goal of the year.

The Scorpions outshot Odessa 12-6 in the opening period. Both teams had only one power play opportunity in the clean, crisp first period, and the penalties overlapped, limiting the advantage for both teams.

Odessa failed to capitalize on a two-man advantage in the middle of the second period, where play was otherwise pretty even until the final 1:09. A few players locked up near the Odessa goal, and Sebastien Thinel reached over the top to get in a blow. He was whistled for two two-minute penalities - for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct - and literally had to be shoved off the ice by linesman Chris Petrin.

That left New Mexico with a power play for the first 2:51 of the final period.

The Scorpions couldn't take advantage of that scoring opportunity, and Odessa broke through with exactly 15 minutes to go on the game when Mario Joly beat New Mexico goalie Andrew Martin.

The Scorpions go on the road for three straight games, playing at Corpus Christi on Wednesday, Austin on Friday and in Hidalgo, Texas against Rio Grande Valley on Saturday. New Mexico's next home game is Jan. 18, when Odessa will again be the opponent.

CHL statistics and standings are available at http://www.CentralHockeyLeague.com. Scorpions' ticket information can be found at http://www.ScorpionsHockey.com or by calling 881-PUCK.