El Paso Rhinos came back from a three-goal deficit to capture the victory. El Paso Rhinos fell behind 3-0 after a power play goal by Phoenix Knights’ Shane Fitzpatrick at 6:10 in the second period. El Paso Rhinos knotted things up at 4-4 on a goal by David Nelson at 1:56 in the third period.
Phoenix Knights’ power play was ineffective against El Paso Rhinos’ penalty kill, which allowed one goal while shorthanded.
Phoenix Knights was unable to stop El Paso Rhinos from sending pucks towards the net, and El Paso Rhinos eventually piled up 34 shots on goal.
El Paso Rhinos additionally got points from Chad Cesarz, who also grabbed one goal and two assists, Nelson, who also had one goal and two assists to lead the team in points, and Andrew Bradford, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Adrian Schmidt also scored for El Paso Rhinos. In addition, El Paso Rhinos received assists from Chris Wilhite, who had two and Peter Plesa and Matthew Plesa, who contributed one a piece.
Phoenix Knights’ offense rang up 48 shots on El Paso Rhinos’ net.
Phoenix Knights was helped by Jordan Cullum, who registered one goal and one assist. Cullum scored 2:05 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Phoenix Knights. Brennan Johnsson picked up the assist. Phoenix Knights also got points from Colin Bresnehan, who also racked up one goal and one assist and Max Mahood, who also had one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for Phoenix Knights were Robert Smith, Trent Boschman, and Nick Kujawa, who each chipped in one.
Adam Vay recorded 44 saves for El Paso Rhinos. El Paso Rhinos incurred 18 minutes in penalty time with nine minors. Troy Anderson made 29 saves for Phoenix Knights on 34 shots. Phoenix Knights incurred 20 minutes in penalty time with five minors.
