Gators crowned by Salmon Kings 7-5
March 20, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Lafayette, LA- The Victoria Salmon Kings scored 6 goals in the first 20:37 of the game and then held off a furious IceGators rally, to defeat Louisiana 7-5, Saturday night in the Cajundome.
Despite having only 12 wins, the Victoria Salmon Kings jumped all over the Gators, putting five goals on the scoreboard during the first period. Locked out San Jose Shark, Mark Smith (2) began the scoring at the 36 second mark. By the time Adam Campbell (2) knocked in a rebound at 19:42, Victoria had a 5-1 lead. In between the goals in the opening and closing minutes, Scott Turner (11), Ryan Finnerty (12), and Ryan Wade (15) had put the puck past Nathan Marsters. Only a power play goal by Mark Rooneem (16) at 8:52 gave the IceGators faithful something to cheer about during the first 20 minutes.
Wade kept the onslaught going with his 2nd goal of the game and 17th of the season, 37 seconds into the 2nd period. The next three goals of the period would go to the Gators. At 5:04, Chris Thompson scored his 17th of the season, picking up a rebound and firing it blocker side past Jamie McCaig. Max Fortunus scored the IceGators 2nd power play goal of the night and his 8th of the season, at 7:53, as his wrist shot from the blue line went through a Jim Shepherd screen for a 6-3 score. Rooneem added his 2nd of the night and 17th of the year, as he picked up a his own rebound pulled it to his backhand and slid it past McCaig for the Gators 3rd power play goal of the night. At the end of 40 minutes of play the Salmon Kings led 6-4.
The Gators got a gift goal at 10:25 when Joe Dustin (3) tried to dump the puck into the Salmon Kings zone. As the biscuit went along the boards it hit a bad spot in the wood and changed direction into the empty net. McCaig had gone behind the net to stop the wrap around and could not get back in time to stop the puck.Louisiana would not get any closer as Ryan Wade completed his hat trick with and empty net goal with 8.1 seconds to go. Scott Turner finished the night with 6 points on one goal and five assists. With the loss, Louisiana's record is now 20-35-6, 46 points and 5th place in the South The Gators and Victoria each had 33 shots on net. Power plays were 3-5 for the Gators and 1-5 for the Salmon Kings.
The IceGators next game is tomorrow, March 20, when the Gators take on the Victoria Salmon Kings at 4:05pm CST. The game will be available on 960am "The Gator", on the internet at www.icegators.com and a videocast is available through the B2 Network and the team website.
ECHL Stories from March 20, 2005
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