Rage rebounds, rolls past SteelHounds

The teams will play the final game of the series today
at 4:05 p.m.

By GREG GULAS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — There’s a very simple reason why the Rocky Mountain Rage is the best team in the Central Hockey League.

They make it a point to never follow a loss with another loss, and after Friday’s setback to the Youngstown SteelHounds, their mettle was tested and for the sixth consecutive time their opponents paid the price.

With seven players scoring a goal and 13 players notching a point, the Rage defeated the SteelHounds, 7-1, in a Central Hockey League game Saturday at the Chevrolet Centre.

It was the first win for Rocky Mountain in six tries against the SteelHounds dating to last season, and a big part of the reason was goalie Terry Dunbar.

Dunbar, who improved to 7-2-1 this year, stopped all but one of Youngstown’s 44 shots, including a flurry in the first period that kept the momentum in Rocky Mountain’s favor.

“Our success has been a team effort all season long and tonight was no different. All 19 guys have gotten us to this point and you witnessed that first hand. The rubber game of the series is tomorrow and it should be an exciting one because of the short turnaround time,” Dunbar said.

The Rage got on the board first at 11:23 of the opening period when David Morelli snuck his wrister past SteelHounds goalie Andy Franck.

When Nathan Rosychuk added his 11th goal of the year with 3:18 remaining in the period, the Rage took a two-goal advantage after the first 20 minutes of play.

Rosychuk add two assists to his totals for a three-point night.

Clay Plume’s power play goal at 10:07 of the second frame increased the Rocky Mountain lead to 3-0 and when Daymen Rycroft followed with his league-leading 33rd goal of the year at 17:00, the Rage increased their margin to 4-0.

Teammate Brent Cullaton was credited with the assist on the play, giving his a CHL-best 53 on the campaign.

“We’ve bounced back from every loss this season and that has been a key to our success. We have plenty of depth and tonight the line of Rycroft, Cullaton and Weisgerber was really working for us. We have three lines that can score so it’s really tough to shut us down of you are concentrating on just one line,” Rage coach Tracy Egleton said.

Kevin Jarman’s power play goal just 35 seconds later cut the Rocky Mountain lead to 4-1 as Youngstown avoided the shutout.

It also marked the 108th consecutive game under coach Kevin Kaminski’s watch that the SteelHounds have avoided the dreaded scoreboard doughnut.

“To me, I just don’t understand it. I don’t know how you can be playing the best team in the league and turning the switch on and off. This is about being a professional so you have got to compete on every single shift. That is what gets you to the next level,” Kaminski said.

“We went from being on the same page Friday night to being all over the map tonight. We puck watched and stirred the soup all night. The way we played tonight there should be some demotions to the senior leagues,” he added.

After cutting into the Rocky Mountain lead on Jarman’s goal, the wheels then fell off for the SteelHounds when the Rage’s Simon Watson (19:05) and Scott Wray (19:55) each scored with under a minute to play in the period for a 6-1 advantage.

Trevor Weisgerber’s tally at 17:23 of the final period then rounded out the scoring on the night.

Youngstown (22-14-2) outshot Rocky Mountain (28-6-3), 44-42, with each team converting when faced with the man advantage.

The teams will meet in the finale of their three-game series at 4:15 p.m. today at the Chevrolet Centre.