Ice Flyers Shoot Down IceGators
February 18, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Pensacola, Fla.--Special teams once again doomed the Louisiana IceGators.
The IceGators, who entered Tuesday in second place in both power plays and penalty kills, were ineffective in both categories, falling to the Pensacola IceFlyers 4-2. The IceFlyers, who handed the IceGators their fourth consecutive loss, were 2-for-3 on the power play and killed all four Louisiana penalties.
The IceGators return to the Cajundome Friday night to play the Mississippi RiverKings. The game--the IceGators' first home contest since January 30--starts at 7:05 p.m.
"It's another tough road loss for us," said IceGators head coach Drew Omicioli. "We had some great chances in the first period, but we didn't bury them. We allowed their power play to take control of the game, and they never looked back.
"The guys battled despite being down two players again. We need to fill the void of missing (forward Tyler) Barr because teams play a much more physical and aggressive game when he's not in the line-up. But we have no excuses. We need to come to play every night no matter how many players we have."
Corey Banfield put Pensacola in the driver's seat early with two spectacular power play goals.
The first, scored at 14:15 of the first period, came on a shot from IceGator goalie Marco DeFilippo's blind side after taking a cross-ice pass from Adam Pawlick. Steve Bergin also assisted on the play.
The next goal came only 51 seconds into the second period. Banfield scored after a Nick Larson shot rebounded off DeFilippo and onto his stick. Pawlick, whose feed led to Larson's initial shot, also was credited with an assist.
Eleven minutes later, Jon Puskar put Pensacola ahead 3-0 off assists from Bergin and Nick Lazorko.
Louisiana finally got on the board with 2:34 left in the frame when Jake Hauswirth, off a Jeremy Boyer pass, put a shot past Max Strang.
Pensacola responded by scoring another goal with 29 seconds left in the period. Lazorko put the IceFlyers ahead 4-1 off assists from Puskar and Keegan Flaherty.
Brett Peppler cut the deficit to two at the 17:26 mark of the third period when he scored with an extra attacker on ice. Hauswirth and Adam Stuart assisted. However, the IceGators could not mount a comeback.
Omicioli says he and his team are both happy to be returning home Friday night.
"It will be nice to play at home again, as this month has been brutal as far as our travel schedule is concerned," Omicioli said. "In the meantime, we'll need to add some more depth and work out the kinks in our game."
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SPHL Stories from February 18, 2015
- SPHL Announces Suspension - SPHL
- Ice Flyers Defeat Ice Gators 4-2 with Jim Craig in Attendance - Pensacola Ice Flyers
- Ice Flyers Shoot Down IceGators - Louisiana IceGators
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