RiverKings Win Thriller over IceGators
February 21, 2016 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Louisiana IceGators Take a Shot vs. the Mississippi RiverKings
(Louisiana IceGators)
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Louisiana IceGators and the Mississippi RiverKings have a love for shootouts.
For the fourth time this season, the two teams played each other to a draw after regulation and overtime. This time, the Mississippi RiverKings walked away victorious.
The RiverKings climbed back from a 4-1 deficit to beat the IceGators 5-4 in the shootout--the first shootout victory for the RiverKings against the IceGators this season. Linden Bahm scored the game-winner and recorded a hat trick on the the night.
The IceGators hit the road to play the Pensacola IceFlyers Friday night. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.
"I'm extremely frustrated with the way the game played out," IceGators head coach Drew Omicioli said. "We played a solid first period considering this was our third game in three night. We absolutely dominated the first 12 minutes of the second period. We outplayed them the entire third period. Except for a few bounces, we played well.
"(Mississippi) scored a goal that shouldn't have been allowed (in the second period), but we were still up two goals at home. We should have finished this game out. I'm not going to go into how I feel about the goal because everyone knows it shouldn't have counted. That score gave them momentum, and that's how it went."
The RiverKings jumped out to a 1-0 lead 2:52 into the contest. Defenseman Sam Higgins went top shelf on a delayed shot from the mid slot to put Mississippi ahead.
That goal awakened the IceGators.
Zac Frischmon tied the game at the 16:08 mark of the first period on a fast break after taking a deep pass from Ben Kramer, deking out goalie Garrett Sheehan, and finishing with a backhanded shot.
Louisiana then jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first half of the second period by scoring three goals within a three minute span of each other. Jake Hauswirth scored after rebounding a John Daniels shot at the 2:29 mark of the frame. Luke Sandler doubled the lead with a wraparound shot at the 3:59 mark. Dylan Hood tacked on a power play goal at the 5:32 mark off a rebound and feeds from Luke Sandler and Jeremy Boyer.
Mississippi clawed its way back into the game--partly in controversial fashion.
Linden Bahm was credited with a power play goal after tipping in a Higgins shot. However, Bahm crashed into the net, knocking it off its moorings one second before attempting his shot. The RiverKings cut their deficit down to a goal with a fast-break score of their own when Cullen Bradshaw took a down-ice feed from Todd Hosmer and beat Adam Courchaine with a beautiful one-timer.
Bahm tied the game at the 9:16 mark of the third period after shaking his defender and blasting a one-timer into the net.
Dylan Hood and Charles Mosey exchanged shootout goals before Bahm scored the game-winner in the sixth round of the tiebreaker.
The IceGators had opportunities to regain the lead in regulation, but they squandered those chances.
"We had a five-minute power play in the third period, and it was painful to watch," Omicioli. "After that, we let them tie the game on a four-on-two. Their guy toe drags our man who didn't go for the body, and they score. We had too many guys puck-watching and not catching the man coming down Main Street to shoot. When you play as many three-and-three (series) as we have, you get mentally drained. That's part of what happened tonight."
"We got five out of six points this week while playing short again and with guys banged up," Omicioli said. "You have to give the guys a lot of credit for playing with heart, but this game is going to bother me all week. I'm a realist. I know and the guys know we squandered a great opportunity. We let them take two points, and we only came away with one. This was our chance to get back to .500, but we didn't finish. If the guys are frustrated, that's a positive. If they aren't we're in trouble. This only proves we still have to get better."
Images from this story
 Louisiana IceGators vs. the Mississippi RiverKings |
 Louisiana IceGators vs. the Mississippi RiverKings |
 Louisiana IceGators Take a Shot vs. the Mississippi RiverKings |
SPHL Stories from February 21, 2016
- Mayhem Fall Late in Fayetteville - Macon Mayhem
- RiverKings Score Three Unanswered, Win 5-4 - Mississippi RiverKings
- RiverKings Win Thriller over IceGators - Louisiana IceGators
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