Cutthroats Top Sundogs in 3-1 Win

Gale finished with two goals on the night, and Smyth tallied an assist each time to extend his league-leading point streak to 15 games for Denver (16-10-2). Patterson earned his eighth win of the season in net, while David Brown suffered the loss for Arizona (11-14-4).

The win closed a six-game homestand for the Fish, who earned three of four possible points in their weekend set against the Sundogs and finished 3-2-1 during the home stretch.

Gale opened up the game’s scoring 8:21 into the first period after Troy Schwab circled the net and fed the puck in front from the right-wing corner. Joel Chouinard then extended Denver’s lead to 2-0 with a one-time shot from the point off Chris Greene’s faceoff win.

Gale would add an empty-net goal in the closing seconds of the game for his team-leading 17th of the season, but Patterson took over for the Cutthroats early on stopping 15 shots in the first period along with 11 more in the third. The rookie netminder is now 6-1-0 in his last seven appearances, giving up two goals or less in five of those contests.

Chad Nehring scored Arizona’s lone goal with 2:06 to play in the third before Gale cemented the final score.

Denver finished 0-for-4 on the power play and Arizona went 0-for-3.

The Cutthroats close out 2012 with a four-game set against the rival Rapid City Rush that begins on Wednesday in Rapid City. Puck drop is set for 6:35 PM MST.

Denver’s final home game of the calendar year will be on December 29 against the Rush at Denver Coliseum.

Three Stars:
1. Kent Patterson (DEN)
2. AJ Gale (DEN)
3. Brad Smyth (DEN)