Cheredaryk lifts Kingfish past IceGators

December 11, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Baton Rouge, LA – Steve Cheredaryk capped off a four-point night with the game-winning goal with 3:27 left in regulation, lifting the Baton Rouge Kingfish to a 6-5 win over the Louisiana IceGators at the Centroplex. Joe Guenther had two goals and an assist and Bryan Richardson scored twice for Baton Rouge, which improved to 4-1-1 in its last six.

Nathan Rempel had a pair of goals, Bobby Brown, Kevin Mitchell each added a goal and an assist and Dennis Shiryaev also scored for the IceGators, who had their 10-game unbeaten in regulation streak (7-0-3) snapped and are winless in three straight (0-1-2).

Jeff Blair made 24 saves for Baton Rouge, while Frederic Cloutier stopped 23 shots in net for the IceGators.

The game was tied 5-5 after two periods, and Cheredaryk's goal was the third-period's lone tally. Richardson won the draw back to Cheredaryk, whose one-timer from the right point eluded Cloutier for his sixth goal of the season.

That tally came less than three minutes after Louisiana's best chance of the period. With 6:01 left, Shiryaev had a good opportunity between the circles, but Blair made an acrobatic save to rob the IceGators winger.

Louisiana pulled Cloutier with 30 seconds left, but Blair kicked aside Mitchell's desperation shot from the top of the left circle as time expired.

The score was tied 2-2 after one, but Guenther put Baton Rouge up a goal at the 3:11 mark of the second, just after a Kingfish power play had expired. Guenther redirected a Trevor Demmans shot from the point for his fifth goal in eight games with Baton Rouge.

The Kingfish extended to a two-goal lead 2:19 later with Richardson's second goal of the night. Demmans again took the initial shot from the right point. Cloutier made the quick save, but Richardson poked the puck past the netminder.

The IceGators got within 4-3 at the 7:44 mark, as Mitchell took a pass from Daniel Goneau at the center point and rifled a one-timer through traffic.

Baton Rouge immediately extended back to a two-goal lead, as Ryan Trsek scored 32 seconds later. Glen Crawford took a shot in transition, and Cloutier made the save. Several players crashed the net, and Trsek lifted the puck over the netminder for a 5-3 lead.

The IceGators scored the final two goals of the stanza to tie the game at 5-5. At the 11:33 mark, Rempel's 4-on-4 goal got the comeback started on a Baton Rouge misplay. Demmans couldn't handle a pass back to the point, and the puck died just inside the Kingfish zone. Rempel streaked alone down the left side, picked up the puck and awaited a poke check by a charging Blair. Blair didn't get his stick on Rempel, who easily tapped the puck into the open net after a deke to get Louisiana within 5-4.

Shiryaev tied the game with 2:17 left in the second. Bruce Richardson won the faceoff back to Shiryaev, who wound up and waited at the blue line for traffic to form in front of Blair. Shiryaev finally released the shot, and it knuckled into the net to send the game into the third period tied.

The first period started off as a defensive battle but ended in a slugfest. The teams combined for just four shots in the first 10 minutes, but then four goals in less than a six-minute stretch, including three in a 53-second span.

Mathieu got things started for Baton Rouge at the 11:36 mark on the power play. Cheredaryk flipped a shot from the right point in on Cloutier, and Mathieu was there to redirect the puck past a screened Cloutier.

It took the IceGators just eight seconds to get even. Brown won the faceoff back to J.P. Morin, who shuffled a pass ahead to Shawn McNeil at the blueline. McNeil walked in, sent a return pass between defenders to Brown, who stretched out and poked the puck past Blair with 8:16 showing on the clock. McNeil's assist was his 240th point with the IceGators, moving past Louis Dumont for fourth place on the team's all-time list.

Baton Rouge went back on top only 45 seconds later on Guenther's tally. Mathieu sent a shot from the point that Cloutier got a piece of. The puck came to Guenther, whose second attempt slid past the netminder for the 2-1 advantage at the 12:29 mark.

The IceGators tied the game with 2:26 left on Rempel's power-play tally. With Mathieu in the box for holding, Mitchell made a diving stop at the blueline to keep the puck in. He got it to Brown along the left boards, and Brown sent a pass back to Mitchell at the center point. Mitchell's shot through traffic was stopped, but Rempel collected the rebound and slipped it past Blair on the left doorstep.

Louisiana finished the game 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Kingfish went 2-for-4.

Gator bites:

Brown's goal tied the second-fastest IceGators' response to an opponent's goal in team history.

Richarsdon scored seven seconds before Louisiana's Mike Oliveira on December 26, 1999, while the IceGators' Eric Cloutier scored eight ticks after Raleigh's Bryan Forslund on January 31, 1998.

Shiryaev's assist on Mitchell's goal was his 50th pro point.

Shiryaev tied his career-high with a three-game point streak.

Bruce Richardson has a career-best 10-game point streak, with nine goals and 12 assists in that span. He is one game shy of McNeil's team season-high.

Louisiana's 10-game unbeaten streak was tied for the fourth-longest such streak in team history.

The IceGators' Branislav Kvetan skated in his 75th game with the team.



ECHL Stories from December 11, 2002


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