IceGators beat Cottonmouths 4-1
November 23, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Lafayette, LA â Ben Storey finished with a goal and two assists and Frederic Cloutier turned aside 28 shots for his 50th win as an IceGator, as Louisiana beat the Columbus Cottonmouths 4-1 at the Cajundome. Bobby Brown, playing in his 500th pro game, also scored and Ben Kilgour and Konstantin Kalmikov added a tally apiece for Louisiana, which has won two of three. Olivier Michaud made 18 saves for Columbus, which is 0-10-2 in its last 12 and hasn't won since October 26.
Kilgour made it 1-0 just 3:47 into the game, as he capitalized by a Michaud error. The Columbus netminder went behind the cage to play the puck, which bounced at a weird angle before Michaud could touch it. The puck came right between the circles to Kilgour, who tapped the puck into the open net on the first shot of the game for his third goal of the season. The goal was Louisiana's only shot in the opening 11:23 minutes of the game.
The Cottonmouths didn't muster their first shot until 7:30 into the game, on the power play.
Louisiana, though, didn't manage its second shut until Storey's goal with 8:37 left in the first, with Marc Andre-Thinel in the box for charging. Kalmikov launched one on net from the left circle, and the puck was knocked down in front. Storey put the puck over the sprawled Michaud for his fifth goal of the season.
Cloutier made his best save of the night when Rumun Ndur found himself alone in front with 6:34 left in the first. Cloutier kicked out Ndur's attempt, then with the help of Maxime Fortunus covered up.
The heavyweight battle everyone was waiting for happened with 2:20 left in the first. Louisiana's Jason Hamilton, in his second game with the team, and Columbus' Rumun Ndur squared off at center ice just seconds after they were released from roughing minors. The pair waited for the other to make the first move, but once the fight was on it was one to remember. The duo weighs a combined 480 pounds.
The second period saw more than twice as many shots as the first, but neither team touched the scoreboard.
The third period was more IceGators, though, as Brown tallied 1:26 in for a 3-0 lead. Brown positioned himself along the left doorstep, rebounded a Kenny Corupe shot and stuffed it under Michaud. Storey also assisted on the play, his third point of the night.
The IceGators went on top 4-0 with 5:52 left in the game, as Kalmikov finished off the Louisiana scoring. Ray DiLauro scored the game's final goal on the power play with 2:30 left.
Louisiana went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Columbus finished 1-for-6.
Gator Bites:
Corupe extended his point streak to a career-best 11 games, with three goals and 10 assists in the span.
Storey has a career-best nine-game point streak, with five goals and seven assists in the span.
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