CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SteelHounds go ape, 7-1

Darryl Lloyd had two goals and two assists in Youngstown's win over the Amarillo Gorillas.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown SteelHounds were able to learn from their experience Thursday, and as a result came up with their biggest scoring-margin victory of the season and equaled their scoring output for one game Friday night at the Chevrolet Centre.
After falling into a 3-0 hole and losing to the Amarillo Gorillas 5-2 Thursday in a fight- and penalty-marred battle, the SteelHounds turned the tables in Friday's rematch with the Gorillas by scoring first and rolling to a 7-1 win in a Central Hockey League game before an announced attendance of 4,483 fans.
The win by the SteelHounds (11-14-1) shattered Amarillo's seven-game winning streak, which was the longest in the CHL this year. The Gorillas now are 11-11-2.
The SteelHounds now embark on a six-game road trip with their next game set for Tuesday at Memphis. Youngstown's next home game is Jan. 11 against the Wichita Thunder.
Needed a strong start
"We were more focused early in the game so that we wouldn't get into a hole like the last time," said Darryl Lloyd, who turned in his second-best offensive show of the season with two goals and two assists (four points). "We came out with a lot of confidence after all of the fights yesterday."
Coach J.F. Laforest agreed.
"We got behind early Thursday but we scored first tonight and got on them early," said Laforest. "We wanted to take control early and we did that both offensively and defensively, and our defense against their powerplay was stronger and our penalty killing guys came up strong."
Lloyd said it was a great team effort after a bad experience Thursday.
"The whole team played well," said Lloyd, whose best offensive showing of the season was two goals and three assists (five points) on Oct. 29 at Forth Worth in a 7-2 win -- the team's previous seven-goal game.
Other stars come out
But the SteelHounds had several other standouts: Jeff Christian scored two goals to give him 25 for the season and 41 points, goalie David St. Germain had 39 saves out of 40 shots and shut out the Gorillas for the final 52:18 of the 60-minute game, and Jonathan Gagnon delivered three assists.
Plus, Chris Shaffer gave all of the fans in attendance a Christmas present when he scored the SteelHounds' sixth goal -- the first time the team has scored six goals at home -- a feat which allows each fan to redeem an admission ticket to the game for a free Big Mac sandwich.
"The biggest thing was that we got contributions from three lines both offensively and defensively," said Laforest, referring to three rotation teams on the ice that has strengthened the team.
SteelHounds strike first
Youngstown jumped early on Amarillo goalie Shawn Degagne, scoring four goals. The other three came against against replacement Jamie Vandespyker, who had beaten the SteelHounds Thursday.
Degagne finished with 10 saves and Vandespyker had 20.
Jeff Alcombrack's goal with 4:02 gone from the game on assists from Gagnon and Chris Richards gave Youngstown its 1-0 lead, but the Gorillas retaliated at 12:38 on Scott Wray's goal and Mark Strzoda's assist to tie it at 1-1.
But Christian responded with his 24th goal of the year at 18:00 on assists from Lloyd and Dan Buccella.
Then the SteelHounds romped in the second period with four goals. Shawn McMane made it 3-1 at 3:08 ET on assists from Buccella and Shaffer, Lloyd increased the margin to 4-1 at 5:41 on Gagnon's assist, and then Shaffer's "Big Mac" sixth goal on a powerplay with assists from Lloyd and Buccella at 11:42 made it 6-1.
Christian added his 25th goal on an unassisted, shorthanded play at 4:18 ET in the third period to conclude the scoring.
kovach@vindy.com