Bullfrogs Cruise Past Chicago Despite Not Having Leading Scorer

Playing without the league’s leading scorer wasn’t a big handicap for the Bullfrogs Friday at the Arrowhead Pond as they defeated Chicago, 12-5, in a Roller Hockey International game in front of 3,852.

Although Chicago held Anaheim scoreless in the third quarter, the Bullfrogs put the game away with four goals in the final eight minutes.

Roman Hubalek had three goals and an assist and Kevin St. Jacques had two goals and five assists to lead the Bullfrogs (13-2-2). Anaheim remained one point behind Western Conference leading Las Vegas (14-3-1), which defeated Dallas, 10-5, on Friday.

Anaheim can take possession of first place in the conference if it can defeat Buffalo in tonight’s game at 7 p.m. at the Pond. Nine games remain in the regular season for the Bullfrogs.

Friday, the Bullfrogs played without Hugo Belanger, who had an RHI-leading 55 points (23 goals, 32 assists) heading into Friday’s game. Belanger and fellow Bullfrog Kevin Kerr are both playing roller hockey for Team Canada in the Pan American Games in Winnipeg but will return to the Bullfrogs next week.

Belanger and Kerr also missed Thursday’s 8-4 loss to St. Louis, which stopped Anaheim’s season-high eight-game winning streak.

“[Thursday] was an eye-opener,” Bullfrog Coach Brad McCaughey said. “When you’ve won [eight] in a row you start to get the feeling you can’t lose. It was good to get our butt kicked. It’s almost like we needed something to get excited about.”

And the Bluesman (5-12-1) suffered the consequences.

Chicago, which lost to Anaheim, 13-2, in its June 25 meeting, fell behind early Friday. The Bullfrogs scored five goals in a 6 1/2-minute span to take a 7-2 lead with 10 minutes 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Darren Perkins (two goals, three assists) and Dan Shermerhorn (one goal, four assists) also contributed to the Bullfrogs’ early outburst. And Anaheim kept its focus defensively, aggressively checking as goalie Rob Laurie (20 saves) earned his 12th victory.

“We had a lot of jump and we were finishing our checks,” McCaughey said. “We showed a lot more energy and desire tonight.”

Notes

The Bullfrogs released center Ralph Barahona, who had two goals and 14 points in 11 games this season, and signed former Bullfrog Shayne Arsenault, who helped Anaheim win the RHI title in 1993. Arsenault had one assist Friday. . . . Anaheim backup goalie Cory Cadden sat out Friday’s game to serve a one-game suspension he received for a high-sticking incident in San Jose July 10.