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Rempel tosses monkey off back, lifts IceGators to Game 2 win

April 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Lafayette, LA – Nathan Rempel snapped an 18-game goalless streak with a pair of scores, including a seemingly impossible 1-on-3 tally with 2:22 remaining in regulation, to lift the Louisiana IceGators to a 2-1 win over the Arkansas RiverBlades in Game 2 of the Southwest Division Semifinals at the Cajundome. Kyle Kettles made 30 saves for Louisiana, which will try for the series sweep Saturday in North Little Rock, where it went 1-3-2 during the regular season. The IceGators are 7-0 all-time in best-of-five series when winning the first two games.

Terry Marchant scored 59 seconds into the game and Scott Fankhouser made 30 saves for Arkansas, which dropped a 2-0 Game 1 decision Wednesday night.

Rempel's game-winner sent the Cajundome fans into a frenzy.

The winger, fresh off a five-game ECHL suspension for a post-game fight against Mississippi, took an outlet pass from Cal Benazic (two assists) and headed up ice on the left wing. With his teammates going for a line change, Rempel streaked into the Arkansas zone with three RiverBlades in front of him. Rempel somehow got between the defenders, the puck fell right on his blade and he slid it underneath Fankhouser.

"It actually seems more like 25 games," said Rempel, whose last goal came February 8 in Pensacola – some 45 shots ago. "I've been pretty hard on myself. It's my job to score goals and I wasn't doing my job."

Rempel, who had a career-best 25 goals in the season's opening 49 games before the drought, said he was as surprised as anyone about the game-winner.

"I saw that one of their defenseman didn't have a stick, so I decided to go ahead," said Rempel. "Usually I would have just dumped it in then. I got a lucky bounce and the puck came to me."

"I think having some games off really helped (Rempel)," said IceGators head coach Dave Farrish. "He got a chance to sit in the stands and see the game from a different perspective. I had a gut feeling he'd play a big part tonight. He's so great in traffic and has a great release."

Arkansas pulled Fankhouser with 1:20 left, and got its best chance with the seconds dwindling down. Buddy Smith, the ECHL's leading scorer who was held without a point in two straight games for just the fourth time all season, launched a shot from the left point with three seconds left. Kettles made the stop, and Milt Mastad chipped the puck to the boards to secure the victory.

"Smith's got a lot of speed, and we had to make sure he didn't have any room in our zone," said Farrish. Smith has been held to seven shots in two games after a 104-point regular-season campaign. He and Jason Bermingham combined for 35 points in 12 games against Louisiana in the regular season, and have been held off the scoresheet so far in this series.

"Most of (Smith's) points came on the power play, and we've done a great job against their power play so far," added Farrish, whose team has stopped all seven Arkansas man-advantage attempts. The RiverBlades led the ECHL during the regular season with a 23.6 percentage on the power play, including 27.0 percent against Louisiana.

Almost lost in Rempel's heroics was Kettles, who ran his record to 7-0 with a 0.71 goals against average in his last seven games. The 21-year-old, coming off a 22-save shutout Wednesday, has stopped 98.1 percent of Arkansas shots in the series.

Rempel got Louisiana even in the second period on the team's fourth power-play chance, less than a minute after Kettles stoned Damon Whitten on a shorthanded breakaway. After a too many men on the ice penalty was called on Arkansas, Andrew Proskurnicki turned and fired an off-balanced shot from the right circle, but Fankhouser made the original save. Rempel, camped out in the low slot, poked at the puck and slid it under the 6-foot-2 netminder.

Kettles helped keep the score 1-1 by stopping another Arkansas shorthanded chance, as Marchant couldn't finish off a 2-on-1 with 3:16 remaining. With the RiverBlades on the power play with 30 seconds left in the stanza, Kettles covered up the puck in a crowd in front of the net.

Marchant converted an IceGators turnover just 59 ticks into the contest into Arkansas' first goal of the series.

Mike Cirillo picked up a failed clearing attempt at the blueline and fired a shot from the left circle. Kettles made the save, but Marchant poked the rebound past the netminder.

Proskurnicki almost scored a similar goal off a turnover shorthanded, but he fired it wide with 9:15 left in the first.

The IceGators finished the stanza by firing off the last seven shots of the period, but Fankhouser was up to task.

Louisiana had three power plays in the first, including 41 seconds of a 5-on-3. Fankhouser kicked out a Bobby Brown attempt from the blueline, as the IceGators put Proskurnicki in front of the net to create traffic.

The IceGators finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while Arkansas went 0-for-4. The 10 combined power plays are four more than Wednesday's total.

Louisiana will head to Arkansas on Friday morning.

"Our record (in ALLTEL Arena) isn't a reflection of how well we've played up there this season for the most part," said Farrish. "We've played some great games, and outshot them almost 2-to-1 in our last game."

The IceGators dropped a 2-1 decision in the 11th round of the shootout last Saturday in North Little Rock after battling back to tie the game on a Proskurnicki goal with 1:48 remaining.

Gator Bites:

Rempel, who was third on the team with five multi-goal games during the regular season, picked up his first two-goal game since January 31 against Florida.

Proskurnicki has a goal and an assist in the first two games of the series. He has a point in each of his four games against the RiverBlades this season.

Arkansas is 4-10-3 this season when Smith doesn't get at least one point.



ECHL Stories from April 3, 2003


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