Taos Ice Tigers and Amarillo Bulls open the hockey season with one win each
The Big Texan Bulls from Amarillo visited for a two-game series Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 16 and 17), opening the Ice Tiger Hockey season.
The teams took a game apiece. Saturday evening’s game went to the Ice Tigers, 4-1, Sunday’s to the Bulls 7-6.
The first period and most of the second were scoreless. With 3:16 left in the second, Lachlan Henderson scored on a breakaway with an assist from Leandro Richert to make it 1-0 Taos. Seconds into the second period, Amarillo tied it up. So it remained until Ysidro Gravelle, assisted by Danny Cain, put Taos ahead 2-1 with 9:16 remaining in the third and final period.
With under five minutes left, Brandon Martinez tapped in a rebound to stretch the Taos lead to 2 points. When Amarillo left the net empty to put another skater on the ice, Henderson sent the biscuit from the defensive zone to the net with eight seconds left. Final score 4-1. Goaltender Jay Delany made 31 saves in the victory for Taos.
Perhaps stung by their loss the previous night, the Bulls came out hard and fast Sunday morning for a quick goal. Taos turned up the pressure with a goal of its own from Ysidro Gravelle assisted by Nicholas Elliot with 15:08 left in the first 17-minute period. Ten minutes later it was tied up at two thanks to Ice Tiger Angel Sisneros, and the end of the first period had Amarillo up by one, 3-2.
It was a vicious and relatively scoreless second period. Taos successfully defended a five-onthree power play, including a nearly miraculous save by Taos goalkeeper Delany around 15:39.
After another penalty on the Bulls, Ice Tiger Gravelle, assisted by Richert, took advantage of the power play to tie it up 3-3 with 9:16 left in the second period.
After that, things got a little heated.
Ice Tiger Henderson took a hard hit behind the Amarillo goal, which led to a conference among the four referees. The results were five minutes in the box and game ejection for a Bull for head contact and some pouting from the Amarillo coaching staff, who could be heard all the way across the ice shouting: “We’ll get some bubble wrap!”
It might have irritated the Taos fans, had they been there. Instead the bleachers of the Sunday morning game were filled with loudly cheering Texans. If one didn’t know better, one might have believed Taos was playing an away game.
While the boys were playing four-on-four with approximately 2:50 left in the second period,Texas took the lead again: 4-3.
After a long period-break to Zamboni the ice, the start of the third period saw Taos controlling the puck, and they tied it up 4-4 with about 12 minutes to go with a tally by Henderson assisted by Liam Haworth.
Some fancy stick work from Amarillo at 11:18 put them ahead again, 5-4. Shortly after, even with Martinez still in the box, Taos’ Richert managed to neutralize the Texans’ lead making it 5 all.
A save by Taos goalie Delany became the sixth Amarillo goal when the puck was intercepted and put in the net during the handoff. Henderson, assisted by Gravelle, returned within seconds to make it 6-6.
For the third goal within a single minute, the Bulls charged again at 3:06, giving them the 7-6 lead that they maintained until the buzzer.