Stars Maintain East's Top Spot with Four-Point Week

January 6, 2004 - United Hockey League (UHL)
Columbus Stars News Release


The Stars set to begin a nine-game home stand and continue winning ways against the Eastern Conference.

COLUMBUS, OH – Columbus rang in the new year with goals a plenty and then relied on more traditional team strengths; goaltending and defense to earn a split of four games in the United Hockey League's Week 11. Nick Bootland put up six goals, including a team record four score performance in Richmond, to help his team maintain a single-point advantage in the Eastern Conference.

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Week that was:
12/31 STARS 8, Richmond 4
1/2 Muskegon 5, STARS 4
1/3 STARS 3, Port Huron 2
1/4 Muskegon 4, STARS 1

Week Ahead:
1/7 STARS vs. Quad City, 7 PM
1/9 STARS vs. Elmira, 7 PM
1/10 STARS vs. Elmira, 7 PM

Week In Review-

Wednesday night - Stars 8, RiverDogs 4- Stars' Captain Nick Bootland notched his second three-plus-goal game of the year and Columbus netminder Craig Hillier made 42 saves to earn a 8-4 win in Richmond, VA.

The Stars exploded for five goals in five minutes in the first period to take a commanding four-goal lead into the locker room after 20 minutes of play. Team captain Nick Bootland started the goalfest off with an unassisted tally at the 13:22 mark of the first. He picked up a clearing chance off the right side mid boards and deflected a shot off Richmond defenseman Luch Nasato past goalie Maxime Gingras. Evan Cheverie and Paul Dunphy picked up four-on-four goals 38 seconds apart to give the Stars a two-goal lead at 3-1 with four minutes remaining in the period. Bootland added his second goal of the night on a power-play strike at 16:51 completing a stretch where the Stars dented the back of the net on three straight shots. After Gingras was chased in favor of rookie Olivier Dannell, Stars' forward Chris Taliercio added his fifth of the year at 18:09 to close the stanza up 5-1.

B.J. Kilbourne opened second period scoring with a rebound goal at 3:31 that resulted from the hard work behind the goal of linemates Eric Naud and Brian Ridolfi.

Former Columbus Chill player Kevin St. Jacques kept Richmond hopes alive with a power play goal at 17:12 of the second period on assists by Murphy and J.F. Picard, who was making his debut for the RiverDogs.

The teams traded two goals each in the third, including Bootland's third goal from Matt Noga and Ridolfi's fifth of the year with 15 seconds left on the clock.

Friday night – Fury 5, Stars 4- For only the second time this season, the Stars failed to get a point after scoring the game's first goal as the Muskegon Fury scored five unanswered goals and then hung on for a 5-4 win over Columbus.

Columbus (18-9-4) outshot the visiting Fury 23-5 in the third period and 48-16 for the game but could not make up the four-goal defecit. Muskegon goaltender Sylvain Daigle made 44 saves to preserve the team's league leading 22 win of the year. The Fury (22-9-1) got two goals from Scott Hollis including a wrap around goal at 11:15 of the first that tied the game at 1-1.

Stars' captain Nick Bootland tallied two goals including the final goal of the game on a backhand shot that slid under Daigle and inside the far post with 5:36 remaining in the game.

The Stars went 2-for-4 on the power play with Matt Noga and Bootland collecting man-advantage goals. Columbus gave up a power play goal to the UHL's leading scorer Robin Bouchard who notched his 25th goal of the year at 10:08 of the second period. Overall the Fury was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Columbus netminder Jimi St. John collected 11 saves as his inauspicious Stars' debut ended with a rally, but defeat. St. John, who started the year with Fort Wayne, stopped all five Fury shots in the third period.

Saturday night – Stars 3, Beacons 2- B.J. Kilbourne put the eventual game winning goal into an open side of the net from a one-touch pass from Eric Naud at 14:00 of the third to lead the Stars to a 3-2 win at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum.

Chris Taliercio started the play as he dug the puck off the back boards from two Port Huron defenseman winning it to Naud.

Columbus (19-9-4) got great goaltending from Jimi St. John who earned his first win as a Star making 25 saves on the night. The Beacons' Stu Dunn kept Port Huron within striking distance throughout the contest as the home team outshot their guests 38-27.

Beacon's defenseman John Vary tied the game at two on a slapshot from the point that beat St. John to the stick side. Vary banged home his goal directly from the face off win of Mike Corneau.

Port Huron (14-12-3) scored first when rookie Benoit Genesse picked up a Stars defensive mistake in the slot and found Aaron Brand who rifled the puck over Columbus goaltender Jimi St. John's stick side. The goal was scored at the 3:50 mark of the first period.

Stars' captain Nick Bootland tied the game at one at 11:44 of the first on a power play goal off good puck movement from Matt Noga and Jasmin Gelinas. For Bootland, it was his 20th goal of the campaign.

Naud scored a tip in goal to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. Tom Nemeth took the initial shot from the left point directly off a face off win from B.J. Kilbourne. Naud's goal was his sixth of the year and came at the 7:27 mark of the second period.

Sunday afternoon – Fury 4, Stars 1 - Two goals each from UHL goal leader Robin Bouchard and Brant Blackned gave the Muskegon Fury their third win of the year over the Columbus Stars 4-1 at L.C. Walker Arena in Muskegon, MI.

Fury (23-9-2) goalie Sylvain Daigle made the four goals more than enough by stopping all but one of Columbus' 41 shots on goal. Brian Ridolfi scored the Stars' goal at the 1:26 mark of the first period sprung into the offensive end by the leg work of Matt Noga. Tom Nemeth also assisted on the goal. Columbus falls to 19-10-4 but maintains first place in the UHL's Eastern Conference one point ahead of Flint.

Blackned's goals were both laser-like strikes to beat Stars' netminder Greg Hewitt. His first was a power play strike assisted by Todd Robinson and Scott Hollis at 11:25 of the first to tie the game at one. Blackned assisted on the eventual game-winner from Bouchard who beat Hewitt over the stick-side shoulder on a one-time blast from just beyond the blue line.

Hewitt made 28 saves in his first game since returning to the Stars from a call-up with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.

Star Gazing:

Still, The Team That Goes "Bing": Columbus averages 17 PIM per game and has the fewest majors taken by the team with 21. The Stars are also drawing the fewest number of PIMs from their opponents. Opponents have been hit with 576 in PIM while the Stars have taken 561 in 33 games.

Mighty, Mighty in the "Brick House": The Stars are 13-4-3 at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum this season, nicknamed the "Brick House" by this years' team. Columbus has outscored their guests 61-49 on home ice while out shooting opponents by 109 (655-546).

Sometimes first is fleeting: The team scoring the first goal went 0-4 in games involving the Stars in week 11. The Stars are now 12-3-3 when getting on the scoreboard first.

Beast of the East: Columbus is 12-3-2 against Eastern Conference foes, but only 7-7-2 when playing against teams from the West...that .765 in conference winning percentage is the best in the UHL.

Great Central Location: Do partly to their geography, Columbus and Flint are the only two teams in the UHL to have played all other eleven member clubs at least once to this point of the season...the Stars are 7-2-2 by series and Flint is 7-4.

Starburst Sets Record: The Stars set a UHL season standard with five goals in the first period at Richmond on 12/31.

Starposts

· Fifth-year pro B.J. Kilbourne scored his 200th pro career point on Saturday night in the 3-2 win over Port Huron. The gritty centerman from Lake Saranac, NY is second on the team in goals (11) and is third in points (23).

· Fourth-year pro Matt Noga notched his 150th pro assist in Friday's loss to Muskegon. Noga has returned to the score sheet with a vengeance after missing most of November with an injury.

The Week Ahead: The Stars open up their longest home stand of the season Wednesday night, hosting the Quad City Mallards. The Stars defeated their Western Confernce foes 3-1 on December 17 in the teams only other meeting so far this year. Elmira comes to the Brick House for games Friday and Saturday nights on the weekend. The Stars are 1-1-1 against the Jackals, including a 2-1 shoot out loss in the Expo Center Coliseum on November 21.

The Stars play at home each of the next three Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights.



United Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2004


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