Slow Start Dooms Ice Bears in Loss to Marksmen
November 3, 2023 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release
Knoxville Ice Bears' Skate Skalde
(Knoxville Ice Bears)
Max Johnson scored two goals, Todd Goehring had a goal and two assists and the Knoxville Ice Bears fell to the Fayetteville Marksmen 5-2 Friday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
The Ice Bears have lost five straight to start the season. Fayetteville is 3-0-1 in its last four after being shutout on opening night.
Fayetteville jumped out to an early lead when Tyler Kobryn scored on a rebound on the left side just 2:20 into the game. Dalton Hunter skated the puck to the high slot and fired a wrist shot on Kristian Stead. Stead made the initial save with his blocker, but Kobryn cleaned up the loose puck to put Fayetteville in front.
Johnson added to the Marksmen advantage less than two and a half minutes later with a one-timer from the left circle. Goehring slipped the puck up the right circle to Cameron Cook, who fed it across the zone to Johnson at 4:41.
Skate Skalde put Knoxville on the board late in the first with a goal from the blue line that beat Conor O'Brien up high. Dawson McKinney possessed the puck on the left half-board and fed it to Skalde at the top of the zone. Skalde fired through traffic and found the glove-side of the net for his first as an Ice Bear.
Neither team could convert on multiple chances in the second period. Knoxville had a 5-on-3 power play, but O'Brien fought off a try by Rex Moe from in front. Fayetteville piled on opportunities late in the period, but Stead denied Nick Parody from the right circle and turned aside a Fayetteville breakaway.
After Knoxville killed off a Fayetteville 5-on-3, Johnson scored from in front of the crease at 3:29 of the third. Cook had the puck behind the net and slipped it out to the slot where nobody covered Johnson. Goehring and Simon Boyko also scored in the third.
Jordy Stallard put a rebound on net late to cap off the scoring. Davis Kirkendall made a move to get the puck into the slot and the puck found its way to the left side of the crease where Stallard found it and put it behind O'Brien.
Stead finished with 33 saves for Knoxville. O'Brien stopped 26 for his second win of the year.
The two teams head back to Fayetteville to complete the home-and-home Saturday night.
Images from this story
 Knoxville Ice Bears' Skate Skalde |
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