IceGators tie all-time ECHL points mark
Published on March 20, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Shanahan's two goals, Valicevic's milestone point highlight comeback victory Ryan Shanahan scored Louisiana's final two goals, as the IceGators rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 victory in Pensacola on Tuesday night. With the win, Louisiana tied Florida's league-record of 108 points, set in the 1999-2000 season. The IceGators will try to break that record Friday against the Everblades.
For the second straight game, the IceGators found themselves trailing after one period, as Mike Rucinski's shorthanded tally at 4:19 of the first put Pensacola up 1-0. The Ice Pilots went on top 2-0 at 2:33 of the second, as Dean Tiltgen scored his 37th goal of the season.
Louisiana goaltender Frederic Cloutier wouldn't allow another shot by him (30 saves on the night), and the IceGators' offense got on a roll. Chris Valicevic got the comeback started at 8:02 of the second period, as the defenseman scored on a one-timer for his third goal in four games to get Louisiana within 2-1. The goal marked yet another milestone for the veteran, who tied Sheldon Gorski for fourth place on the ECHL's all-time scoring list with 608 points. (Trevor Jobe is third at 634).
Just 1:20 after Valicevic's goal, Dennis Shiryaev knotted the score at 2-2. Shiryaev scored at a nearly impossible angle on an assist from Shanahan, marking his third goal in his last two trips to the Pensacola Civic Center.
Shanahan scored his first goal in 14 games at 12:40 of the middle period as the IceGators went on top. He finished off the scoring with his sixth goal of the season, at 5:05 of the third. Shanahan now has a season-best four-game point streak, with two goals and four assists in that span.
The IceGators killed off 1-of-6 Pensacola power plays, including the first two. That gave Louisiana 31 consecutive kills of shorthanded chances before Tiltgen's goal.
Louisiana, which rallied with four unanswered goals for a 5-2 win over Mississippi on Saturday, takes on Florida on Friday and Saturday nights at 6:30 p.m. (ct). The IceGators need one more point to break the league's all-time single-season record. Also, Louisiana's 52 wins are one shy of Florida's ECHL-record 53, set in the 1999-2000 season.
The IceGators will likely go after that record with a former Everblade in net. Marc Magliarditi, who spent the past three seasons in Florida, is due up next in head coach Dave Farrish's goalie rotation. Magliarditi sports a 30-11-4 career record at TECO Arena.
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