Saal Sparkling as the RiverBlades Shut Out Pensacola

Published on October 27, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release

Jason Saal earned his first shutout of the season as the Arkansas Riverblades defeated the Pensacola IcePilots 3-0 Sunday at Alltel Arena.

Saal stopped all 33 shots he faced, including two breakaway chances, to get the victory.

Terry Marchant, Ernie Hartlieb and Buddy Smith all tallied their third goal of the season for the Riverblades, and Jason Bermingham added two assists to take the team lead with six.

Marchant was the first to tally for the Riverblades, setting a new Riverblades record just 18 seconds into the game, banging home a rebound set up by Matt Poapst and Mike Cirillo. The action continued to quicken, and Arkansas was again able to tally near the end of the first period on Hartlieb's goal, assisted by Bermingham and Eric Long.

In the second period, the intensity continued, with each team trading two power play chances, but neither could cash-in, and it wasn't until 17:29 of the second that Arkansas extended its lead to 3-0 on the goal by Smith, set up by Bermingham and Hartlieb.

The third period was much like the first two, and included a fight between Arkansas's Kyle Kos and Pensacola's Brad Cruikshank. But neither team could light the lamp, and Arkansas moved on to victory.

The Riverblades outshot Pensacola 47-33 for the game, and improved to 4-2-1 on the season. Pensacola just could not solve Saal, and fell to 2-2-2 on the year.

Neither team could capitalize on the power play, as Pensacola was 0-for-5 and Arkansas, 0-for-8.

The Riverblades will next travel to Mississippi to play the Sea Wolves on Thursday, before returning to Alltel Arena for a pair of weekend games against the Columbia Inferno.

ECHL Stories from October 27, 2002

• Stingrays Run Streak to Six - South Carolina Stingrays
• RiverBlades Announce Weekend Promo - Arkansas RiverBlades
• IceGators Weekly Report - Louisiana IceGators
• Royals Claim Six of Eight Points This Week - Reading Royals
• Cincinnati Cyclones This Week - Cincinnati Cyclones
• Kingfish Weekly - Baton Rouge Kingfish
• Sea Wolves Crown Kingfish, 4-1 - Mississippi Sea Wolves
• Sea Wolves down Fish 4-1 - Baton Rouge Kingfish
• Bakersfield Demolishes Gulls, 7-1 - San Diego Gulls
• Saal Sparkling as the RiverBlades Shut Out Pensacola - Arkansas RiverBlades
• Falcons Help Scare Away Crime - Fresno Falcons
• Men O' War Goalie Smith Makes Hockey History - Burlington
• ECHL Transactions - ECHL
• Smith Garners Triple Crown - ECHL
• All Along the Coast - ECHL
• Aces Fall Again, 5-2 - Alaska Aces

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