The Texas Tornado will host the NAHL South Division leading Amarillo Bullsfor a weekend set beginning at 7:30 Friday evening at the Dr Pepper Arena for a Pack The House Weekend. There will be special pricing with any five seats in the house at only $25. Texas will need the backing of a raucous crowd to try and tame the Bulls. Amarillo has won all four meetings so far this season with the last two games coming as part of the Tornado’s 10 games in 18 days streak. If the Tornado are to have a chance to overtake Amarillo for the division lead, this weekend’s series takes on an almost must win atmosphere.
David Dudich – Texas Tornado Booster Club: Tornado Captain Jackson Leef and Bull’s TJ Sarcona await the drop of the puck.
| Last 5 Games | W | L | OTL | Pts |
| Texas | 4 |
1
0
8
Amarillo
5
0
0
10
Special Teams
Both teams come into the game with sporting strong powerplay units. The Tornado currently have the number one ranked home powerplay at 24.3% having converted 17 of 70 opportunities. The Bulls road powerplay is not far behind setting at number five in the league with 21.5% converting 17 of 79 opportunities. Where the difference may factor in is on the penalty kill. Texas’ home penalty kill is tenth in the league allowing 9 goals on 66 times short handed for 86.4% while Amarillo’s road penalty kill is eighteenth in the league allowing 13 goals on 72 times short handed for 81.9%. If Texas can remain disciplined as stay out of the box they could use the special teams to their advantage.
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
GP |
W
L
OTL
SO
GA
GAA
SV
SV%
Texas
5
4
1
0
0
9
1.80
106
.922
Amarillo
5
5
0
0
1
7
1.40
102
.936
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Texas | G | A | Pts |
| Scott Conway | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Brandon Hawkins | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Drew Mayer | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Alexey Soloviev | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Amarillo | |||
| TJ Sarcona | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Ryan Cole | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Mike Davis | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| John Rey | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Texas Tornado veteran forward Drew Mayer is the reigning Combat Hockey – South Div Star of the Week.
The Tornado have 4 players in the top 15 in scoring with Brandon Hawkins 41 pts (28G-13A), Jackson Leef 36 pts (5G-31A), Justin Greenberg 35 pts (15G-20A) and Scott Conway 35 pts (9G-26A). The Bulls have only one player ranked among the top 15 in TJ Sarcona 38 pts (10G-28A).
Hawkins leads the league with his 28 goals scored. Leef is second in the league with his 31 assists.
Amarillo’s Paul Berrafato is ranked 3rd in the league with a 1.85 GAA thanks in part to the strong defense in front of him as he is 13th in SV% at .915. The Tornado’s Hunter Leisner is 14th with a 2.55 GAA and 21st with a .911 SV%.
Leisner leads the league in Wins 20, Mins Played 1690:56 and Saves 738.
Amarillo leads the league in goals scored per game with 4.38 and goals allowed per game with 2.03 resulting in 10 of the top 16 players in +/-being Bulls led by Mike Davis at +35. Texashas two players ranked among the top 16, Jason Eddy at +22 and Conway at +19.
Amarillo tends to get stronger as the game progresses with goal differentials per period of +10, +33 and +34. Texas on the other hand does most of their damage in the second period at +7, +21 and +14.
Should either of the games go to a shootout the Tornado hold the cards as they have performed much better in that situation scoring 7 goals on 12 attempts while the Bulls have yet to score on 10 shootout attempts.
Scoring first will be at a premium in these games as the Tornado are 17 – 3 – 0 when scoring first and the Bulls are 16 – 0 – 2.
Since their last meeting, the Bulls have made several roster moves. Gone are three forwards Nick Breed and Blake Gober were released whle Brandon Flood was traded to the 3PHL. Two defensemen were also released in James LaDouce and Ryan Bonner. Amarillo added forward Travis Underwood on Dec 20th bring him over from Coulee Region where he had put up 6G-9A in 22 games.