Marcus Wilhite scored on the power play and 15:37, assisted by Costi Hinn and Kohn – a goal important to the Rhinos just to prove that they could light the lamp again after heavily out-shooting the visitors.
It was certainly enough motivation for Kohn. As El Paso went on the penalty kill for the fifth time in the game after Zach Goller was called for hooking at 16:22, Kohn took a pass from Balko and drove hard up the right wing, swooping in along the end line and wristing his shot off Diablos’ goalie Ryan Larrabee for a shorthanded goal just 22 seconds into San Antonio’s power play.
Then, Balko and Kohn repeated the feat just over a minute later on the same Diablos’ power play, combining for a two-on-one afterSan Antonio turned it over in their own zone.
But El Paso wasn’t done, as, after the Rhinos had killed off yet another Diablos advantage, Bill Krueger spotted Kowalski coming off the bench and sent a defense-splitting two-line pass to the winger for the breakaway.
Kowalski buried his shot stick-side, low past Larrabee to give El Paso its first lead of the game at 18:34 of the second period, and its fourth goal in under three minutes.
Kowalski walked in an empty-netter at 19:27 of the third for the hat trick.
San Antonio is third in the Mid-West Division with a 17-8-3 mark and 37 points.
While Kowalski hat the hat trick, Kohn notched a four-point night with his two goals and two assists, while Balko contributed three assists. Hollinger picked up his 12th win of the season in goal for the Rhinos, who round out their three-game stand against the Diablos Sunday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. MST.
Fans can listen toEl Paso ’s webcast as Duke Keith calls the play-by-play at www.elpasorhinos.com, and they can follow the live gamecast at www.pointstreak.com by keying “WSHL” into the hockey searchbar and following the links.
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