Continuing their near month-long road trip, the Arizona Sundogs were once again faced with three games in three days. This week the games were against three different teams; the Missouri Mavericks, the Quad City Mallards, and the Evansville Icemen.

Friday night the Sundogs faced the Mavericks and it was Arizona getting on the board first with a goal by captain and defenseman Tyler Butler, assisted by Samson Mahbod and Luke Erickson, at 6:50 of the first period. Missouri would get a goal before the end of the period and the teams would go into the first intermission tied. Arizona forward Nathan O'Nabigon would get the only goal of the second, assisted by Kyle Hood and Daymen Rycroft. The teams would trade scoring chances in the third, but the Sundogs' lead would remain at one until the Mavericks pulled their goalie in an effort to tie the game; leading to an emptynet goal by Daymen Rycroft, assisted by Kevin Petovello. The Sundogs totaled 40 shots in the game and goalie Mike Spillane turned away 28 of the 29 shots he faced.

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Craig Macdonald ended the week with five goals in three games

The Arizona Sundogs played three games this week; and in a situation that only happens in the minor leagues, the games were in three consecutive days in two different cities. The Sundogs would first meet the Bloomington Blaze before back-to-back games against the Quad City Mallards.

Arizona and Bloomington met on Friday night and the Blaze got on the board early with a goal at 2:24 of the first period. The Sundogs would answer back just four minutes later with a goal by forward Craig Macdonald, assisted by Luke Erickson and Jesse Perrin. After the early scoring, the teams would go into the first intermission tied at one and it would be near the midway point of the second before the lamp would light again with another Bloomington goal. As time was running out in the middle frame, Sundogs' forward Adam Smyth would score and pull his team even, assisted by Craig Macdonald and Tyler Matheson. The Blaze would score halfway through the third to take the lead again, but two minutes later Craig Macdonald would score on the powerplay, assisted by Samson Mahbod. The tie wouldn't last long though as Bloomington would score once more, just 33 seconds later. With time running out, the Blaze would take a high-sticking penalty and the Sundogs would pull their goalie for the two-man advantage, allowing Craig Macdonald to finish off his hat-trick, assisted by Olivier Proulx and Kyle Hood, and sending the game to overtime. Neither team would find the back of the net in the extra frame, and the game would go to a shootout. It would take six rounds, with Craig Macdonald and Kevin Petovello scoring for Arizona and securing the comeback victory. The Sundogs totaled 28 shots and goalie Mike Spillane made 32 saves on 36 shots for his first victory with Arizona.

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Captain Tyler Butler received Player of the Week Honors

The Arizona Sundogs began their near month-long road trip with two games against the Missouri Mavericks this week.

The teams met for the first game on Friday night and Missouri took control of the game early, scoring two powerplay goals in the first, an even-strength goal in the second, and then another powerplay goal early in the third. With the Mavericks on yet another powerplay, Sundogs' forward Jesse Perrin got his team on the board with a shorthanded goal, assisted by Craig Macdonald and Corey Toy. Arizona would cut further into Missouri's lead with a powerplay goal of its own, scored by forward Kevin Petovello, assisted by Daymen Rycroft and Olivier Proulx. With time running out, the Sundogs would pull their goalie, leading to a goal by captain and defenseman Tyler Butler, assisted by Olivier Proulx and Daymen Rycroft. Arizona would be unable to get the tying goal before the final buzzer however. The Sundogs totaled 32 shots and goalie Scott Reid made 22 saves on 26 shots.

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Photo courtesy of MSP

The Arizona Sundogs split their time this week with two games on the road and two at home. While on the road Arizona faced the Allen Americans and the Wichita Thunder before the team returned home for a back-to-back stint against the Fort Wayne Komets.

On Tuesday, Arizona faced the Allen Americans and with a first period short-handed goal, a second goal midway through the third, and a stellar performance by the Allen goalie, the Sundogs were handed a shut-out loss. The Sundogs totaled 24 shots and goalie Scott Reid made 33 saves on 35 shots.

The Sundogs returned immediately to the road and traveled to play the Wichita Thunder on Wednesday night. The Thunder surged to an early lead with two goals before the midway point of the first period. Arizona got on the board with a shorthanded goal by forward Craig Macdonald, assisted by Daymen Rycroft and Tyler Butler, at 12:55 of the opening frame. Wichita got a powerplay goal soon after and took a two-goal lead into the first intermission. Sundogs' forward Kevin Petovello cut the lead to one early in the second, assisted by Zach Carriveau and Luke Erickson. The Thunder got another goal before Arizona forward Daymen Rycroft would answer with one of his own, assisted by Nathan O'Nabigon and Zach Carriveau. The teams would trade goals again with Wichita getting another before captain and defenseman Tyler Butler would answer on the powerplay, assisted by Zach Carriveau and Kevin Petovello. Unfortunately, the Thunder would get another goal in the second and two in the third to come away with the 8-4 win on the night. Arizona totaled 27 shots. Sundogs' goalie Mike Spillane started the game and turned away 20 of the 26 shots he faced before being replaced by Scott Reid, who made 5 saves on 7 shots.

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The Arizona Sundogs sought to continue their surge in the second half of the season with three games this week against the top two teams in their conference; one against the Wichita Thunder and two against the Allen Americans.

On Wednesday night Arizona met Wichita and neither team could find the back of the net until midway through the second period when the Thunder got on the board. Nine minutes into the third period, Sundogs' forward Daymen Rycroft would tie things up, assisted by Kyle Hood and Tyler Butler, and send the game to overtime. As in the first period, neither team would score in the extra frame and the game would go to a shootout. Arizona would be unable to convert on its first three attempts, while Wichita would score all three times and get the win. The Sundogs totaled 49 shots in the game and goalie Scott Reid turned away 38 of the 39 shots he faced.

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Arizona Sundogs' forward Kevin Petovello scored twice in the All-Star Game

In a week where more eyes than ever were turned towards Tim's Toyota Center, the Arizona Sundogs rose to the occasion.

On Wednesday night the 2012 CHL All-Star Game took place in front of over 4,700 fans with the Arizona Sundogs facing off against a team comprised of the best in the CHL. Arizona got on the board first with a goal from forward Kevin Petovello, assisted by Luke Erickson and Zach Carriveau, just 2:04 into the opening period. The All-Stars would net two goals before the end of the period, one by Matt Robinson and the second by Bruce Graham, to take the one-goal lead into the first intermission. The second period would begin the same as the first with the Sundogs getting on the board early, this time with a goal by defenseman Jesse Perrin, assisted by Craig Macdonald and Daymen Rycroft. The All-Stars would take the lead again with a second goal by Matt Robinson at 7:25, but Arizona's Kevin Petovello would tie things up once more with his second of the night two minutes later, assisted by Samson Mahbod and Jean-Philipp Chabot. The All-Stars would find their grove in the third period, with Brett Smith getting a goal just 35 seconds in. Just over halfway through the period, Sundogs' forward Samson Mahbod would cut the lead to one, assisted by Kyle Hood and Jesse Perrin, but the All-Stars would get two more before the final buzzer, one by Brad Marino and one by Jeff Teminesi, and take the victory. The Sundogs tied an All-Star Game record with a total of 75 shots. Arizona goalie Scott Reid played the first half of the game and made 24 saves on 27 shots before Mike Spillane would play the final half and make 21 saves on the 23 shots he faced. Brandon Marino was named the MVP for the All-Stars, while Kevin Petovello was named the MVP for the Sundogs.

The Sundogs and All-Stars in the post-game handshake

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Photo courtesy of MSP

In the last week before the CHL All-Star break, the Arizona Sundogs had three games at home, one against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and back-to-back matchups with the Texas Brahmas.

Tuesday night saw the Sundogs facing off against the Killer Bees once more. The opening period began quietly with neither team scoring until past the midpoint, but then Rio Grande Valley would get two before the intermission. Halfway through the second period, Arizona rookie defenseman Tyler Matheson would net his third goal of the season, assisted by David Nimmo and Corey Toy. With just under six minutes left in regulation, Sundogs' defenseman and Captain Tyler Butler would exit the penalty box, pick up a pass from Corey Toy, and laser one past the Texas goalie to tie the game and force overtime. With the extra period nearing a close, the puck would take a bad bounce off the referee in the Sundogs' defensive zone and Texas would capitalize, scoring the winning goal. Arizona totaled 45 shots and goalie Mike Spillane made 31 saves on 34 shots.

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Goalie Mike Spillane made his debut as an Arizona Sundog this weekend

The Arizona Sundogs wrapped up the calendar year with back-to-back games against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

On Friday night the Killer Bees got the scoring going early with a goal just 47 seconds into the first period. Sundogs' forward Adam Smyth answered back less than a minute later, assisted by Jeff Hazelwood and Jean-Philipp Chabot. The scoring would continue with Rio Grande Valley taking the lead again two minutes later. Arizona forward Jean-Phillip Chabot tied things up with a powerplay goal at 8:20 of the opening frame, assisted by Jeff Hazelwood and Kyle Hood. That would be all of the scoring in the first, but with a fight in the last minute, Jean-Phillip Chabot would complete his Gordie Howe hat-trick in a single period. After the explosion early in the game, neither team would find the back of the net in the middle frame. Sundogs' forward Luke Erickson gave his team the lead for the first time with a powerplay goal early in the third, assisted by Jeff Hazelwood and David Nimmo. The Killer Bees would then answer with two goals to retake the lead. Late in the third, Luke Erickson would get his second powerplay goal of the night, assisted by David Nimmo and Jean-Philipp Chabot, to even the score and send the game to overtime. With neither team able to score in OT, the teams would go to a shootout. It would take six rounds, with Arizona scoring twice and Rio Grande Valley three times, before a winner would be decided. The Sundogs totaled 46 shots on the night and goalie Scott Reid stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced.

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