Amarillo tops Odessa in front of sell-out crowd on Sunday

Odessa 2 @ Amarillo 7 - Joe Kozlak fired a hattrick to power the Amarillo Bulls past the Odessa Jackalopes 7-2 on Sunday night in front of a sold out crowd of almost 5,000 fans in the Amarillo Civic Center.  The fans were not disappointed in the contest as they saw plenty of offense by their hometown and 1st place Bulls.  The victory by the Bulls was their third in as many games. They outscored their opponents 17-5 in the three games while firing over 100 shots on net.  It was a terrific start to the game for the Amarillo Bulls which fired 21 first-period shots and scored twice. The offense was ignited by Joe Kozlak who notched both markers. His first goal was a deflection on the power play from John Rey and Matt Johnson. His second occurred when he stole the puck off an Odessa turnover and quickly fired it into the back of the net.  Odessa scored off a deflection from Tyler Poulsen in the final four minutes to round out the scoring.  In the second period, the Bulls continued their torrid play and scored twice more. Joe Kozlak completed his hattrick when he deflected home a TJ Sarcona shot just 20 second into the stanza on the power play. Michael Erickson and Brandon Lubin earned assists on the goal. About three minutes later Omar Mullen found the back of the net on an unassisted marker. Amarillo outshot Odessa 19-5 in the second.  The scoring continued in third period from Clint Carlisle who shot eluded goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, and it was 5-1. Matt Johnson added an assist on the goal. Just three minutes, later TJ Sarcona added a sixth goal from Clint Carlisle and Carl Beckman. After Odessa scored to make it 6-2, the Bulls rounded out the scoring when Greg Gibson scored on a great shot from Brooks Behling at 18:10.  Mike Taffe posted the win in goal and was replaced early in the third period by Gregg Gruehl after his altercation with goaltender Justin Davis.  The Amarillo Bulls outshot the Odessa Jackalopes 54-19. There were 10 power plays in the contest with the Bulls going 2 for 4. Boxscore

Bismarck 4 @ Alexandria 3 – The Bobcats capped off a perfect three-game weekend on the road by defeating the Blizzard 4-3 on Sunday.  The win snapped the Blizzard’s NAHL season-high 11-game winning streak.  The Blizzard answered every lead the Bobcats took in the game, but ultimately defenseman Donald Olivieri’s second goal of the game late in the 2nd period stood up as the game-winner for Bismarck, who are now 15 points clear of Alexandria for 1st place in the Central Division.  Dan Zawacki and Adam Knochenmus also scored for the Bobcats, while Reid Sturos, Nick D’Avolio and Vadim Gyesbreghs scored for the Blizzard. Boxscore

St. Louis 2 @ Chicago 5 – The Hitmen finally broke through against the Bandits and snapped a five-game losing streak in the process, taking the third game of the weekend series by a score of 5-2.  Five different players scored for Chicago including Anthony Annunziato, Zach Schrotenboer, Joey Haydock, Steven Sherman and Mason Miller.  The Hitmen trailed 2-1, but scored the final four goals of the game.  Nick Kohn was spectacular between the pipes making 44 saves. Boxscore