Bullfrogs Handle Aggressive San Jose Again

ANAHEIM â€”  When the San Jose Rhinos finally caught on that mistakes have been killing them, it was too late to salvage a victory over the Bullfrogs Sunday night at the Pond.

San Jose, the most penalized team in Roller Hockey International, sent its first man into the penalty box 31 seconds after the opening faceoff. Even though the Rhinos toned it down in the second half, their early carelessness was a big factor in the Bullfrogs’ 8-5 victory in front of an announced crowd of 8,337.

The victory, the second in two nights over the Rhinos, means the Bullfrogs (7-3-0) leaped over San Jose (6-2-1) into first place in the Western Conference as the season nears the halfway mark. The teams conclude their three-game series at 3 p.m. Friday at the Pond.

The Bullfrogs lead the Rhinos by a point and have a three-point margin over the Blades and St. Louis. The Vipers defeated the Blades, 9-3, Sunday at the Forum.

It was the fourth victory in five days for the red-hot Bullfrogs, whose only blemish was a 6-5 loss at St. Louis Thursday.

And they did it without several key players, most notably, all-time leading scorer Victor Gervais and veteran defenseman Joe Cook. Gervais rested his sore right knee for the second consecutive night while waiting for the league to clear paperwork on his late return to the Bullfrogs. Cook suffered a possible concussion Saturday at San Jose.

“We sent out our smallest lineup against them, so we’ll take what we have done,� said Bullfrog defenseman B.J. MacPherson. “We should have won the game in St. Louis. It was our best game of the year, but we missed some shots.�

San Jose opened the season with the best start in franchise history, 6-0-1, but it does the Rhinos no good to be last in the league in penalty killing when they have amassed the most penalty minutes (273) of any club.

On Saturday, San Jose was called for 43 minutes in penalties and lost, 12-5, to the visiting Bullfrogs.

Sunday the Rhinos had 30 1/2 penalty minutes in the first half, including two majors for fighting.

The Bullfrogs capitalized and outshot the Rhinos, 24-15, for its biggest halftime lead of the season, 6-1.

Rick Judson scored on three power plays and had a hat trick before the second quarter ended. Defenseman Doug McCarthy had four points in the half.

“This is a big turning point for us,� first-year Bullfrog Coach Brad McCaughey said. “We’re getting better and we’re right up there where we want to be in first place.�

San Jose got back into the game, trailing, 6-5, with 1 minute 33 seconds to go after Rhino Blake Knox controlled a loose puck and slipped it behind goaltender David Goverde (2-2) while the Bullfrogs were in the middle of a line change.

San Jose pulled goalie Joe Bonvie (2-1-1) after that and the moved backfired. Bullfrog defender Chris Newans outmuscled San Jose’s Cory Laylin and found the empty net from 30 feet with 31 seconds to go. Defender Darren Perkins scored an empty-net goal with six seconds remaining.