Arizona Beats Bloomington

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Bloomington Blaze, fueled by Mid-Illini Credit Union, could not overcome an early deficit and fell 4-1 to the Arizona Sundogs on Saturday night at Tim's Toyota Center.

The hosts took just 58 seconds to begin the scoring as Ron Meyers knocked home a rebound at the right post assisted by Karl Linden and Adam Smyth.  Meyers made it 2-0 with 16:25 left in the opening period when he took advantage of a failed Blaze clearance and slid a shot in at the right post on an assist from Jason Morgan.  The Sundogs used a power play to increase their lead to 3-0 on a Morgan rebound goal from the slot with 1:30 remaining in the first period.

The Blaze entered the scoring column with 5:38 remaining in the second period when Matthew Larke connected on a blast from slot on a 5-on-3 power play on a feed from Jon Booras and Nicklas Lindberg. 

The Sundogs put the game out of reach with 2:20 on a power play goal by Chad Nehring, assisted by Morgan and Chad Langlais.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier took the loss in goal in his first appearance since December 16 with 30 saves, while Adam Russo earned the win with a 26-save effort.  The Blaze carried the league's best power play into the game but were 1-for-10 with the man advantage.  The Sundogs were 2-of-4 on the power play.