San Antonio goalie Cody Davis stopped 64 of 66 Rhinos shots, but two goals was all it took for El Paso to skate off the ice with a 2-1 win.
Max Dizgun gets the win in goal for the hosts, stopping 13 of 14 Diablos shots.
Austin Balko got the Rhinos on the board at 4:10 of the second period on a power play breakaway, taking as pass from Nick Gualano and Dizgun off his skates, controlling, then skating in on Davis unchecked and beating the goalie under his right arm.
But Taylor Abbott tied it for the visitors on Tulsa\’s only power play at 11:00, as Dizgun had problems with a bouncing rebound. With Dizgun off his line to chase the puck, Abbott found it first and fired it into an empty net.
Balko set up the game-winner at 8:15 of the third, though, waiting until the very last to pull the trigger on a short pass to Donald Geary.
Balko\’s patience as he led the break got Davis to pursue him to his right, and Geary had only to redirect Balko\’s pass into the empty net.
Due to an odd scheduling conflict, the third game of the three game series was set for Super Bowl Sunday. Unable to make changes to the date but working to avoid conflicts with the time, the Rhinos will play the Diablos at 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
For tickets or information, call the El Paso Rhinos front office at 915/479.PUCK (7825) or go to www.elpasorhinos.com.
