February 26, 2003
 

Kingfish win second straight
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release

Dwayne Blais scored twice and newcomer Mike Renzi added a power play goal as the Kingfish won their second straight game as they dumped the Arkansas RiverBlades, 4-3.


The Kingfish took a 1-0 lead on Blais’ first goal at the 12:53 mark of the first period. Newcomer Scott Hewson took a pass from Tom Kaiman and fed Blais in the slot to set up the goal.


Three minutes later, Joe Guenther put a puck of the glove of Scott Fankhouse and into the net to pushed the Kingfish lead to two goals. Brad Fraser and Niklas Sundberg added the assists on the goal.


Early in the second, Mike Renzi gave the Kingfish a 3-0 lead on the power play. Chris Bell and Fraser added the assists on the goal at the 2:41 mark of the second.


Arkansas finally got on the board a little over a minute later. Damon Whitten slipped the puck past Niklas Sundberg on the power play to cut the Kingfish lead to 3-1. Gary Toor and Mike Cirillo added the assists on the goal.


Blais’ second goal of the game proved to be the winner. On his second effort in front of Fankhouse, Blais rolled the puck up his pad and into the net. Guenther and Fraser added the assists on the goal at the 14:29 mark of the period.


Later in the period Whitten cut the Kingfish lead back to two goals on the power play. Cirillo and Matt Pagnutti added the assists on the goal a the 17:27 mark of the period.


The Kingfish lead dwindled to a goal as Terry Marchant was able to beat Sundberg on a pile up in front of the Baton Rouge net. Cirillo and Whitten added the assists on the goal at the 2:32 mark of the third.


The RiverBlades could get no closer as the Kingfish held the ECHL’s leader in assists, Buddy Smith, off the scoreboard.


Sundberg made 25 saves for the Kingfish in the win and improved to 15-14-2 on the season.

The Kingfish are back in action on Friday as they travel to Biloxi to take on the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Catch all the action on Baton Rouge’s Best R & B, 104.5 WZRB beginning with the Kingfish pregame show at 7:15 p.m.



Blades Fall to Kingfish
Arkansas RiverBlades Press Release

Terry Marchant scored twice, and Damon Whitten added a goal and an assist, but the Arkansas RiverBlades could not overcome an early deficit, losing 4-3 to the Baton Rouge Kingfish Wednesday in Baton Rouge.

Scott Fankhouser made 30 saves for Arkansas, who also got 3 assists from Mike Cirillo.

Dwayne Blais kicked off the scoring at 12:53 for Baton Rouge, notching his 9th of the year from Scott Hewson and Tom Kaiman.

Then, at 15:59, Joe Guenther scored his 12th of the year, assisted by Brad Fraser and Niklas Sundberg.

Former RiverBlade Mike Renzi haunted his ex-teammates in the second, scoring his 9th of the year for Baton Rouge, assisted by Chris Bell and Brad Fraser at 2:41.

Just over a minute later, however, Arkansas got on the scoreboard, as Terry Marchant got his 19th of the season from Garry Toor and Mike Cirillo on the power-play at 3:50.

Baton Rouge would answer though, as Dwayne Blais got his 10th of the year and second of the game from Joe Guenther and Brad Fraser at 14:29.

Then, just before the end of the period, Damon Whitten lit the lamp with his 8th of the campaign from Mike Cirillo and Dean Stock to make it 4-2 at the end of two.

Terry Marchant would cut the lead to 4-3 at 2:32 of the third, set up by Mike Cirillo and Damon Whitten, but the Blades would get no closer, falling by that score.

Baton Rouge outshot Arkansas 34-29 for the game, and were 1-for-3 on the power-play. The RiverBlades were 2-for-4 with the man advantage. Arkansas returns home tomorrow night to host the Pensacola Ice Pilots on "70's College Night." Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Alltel Arena.
 

DATE - 02/26/03     Arkansas ( 3) AT Baton Rouge ( 4)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Arkansas                   0  2  1--3  
Baton Rouge                2  2  0--4  


FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Baton Rouge-Blais 3 (Hewson; Kaiman) 
12:53. 2, Baton Rouge-Guenther 12 (Fraser; Sundberg) 15:59. 
Penalties: Gernander, BR (Holding), 2:21. Renzi, BR (Roughing), 
14:34. Pagnutti, ARK (Roughing), 14:34. Pagnutti, ARK (Roughing), 
17:44. 

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Baton Rouge-Renzi 1 (power play) (Bell; 
Fraser) 2:41. 4, Arkansas-Whitten 8 (power play) (Toor; Cirillo) 
3:50. 5, Baton Rouge-Blais 4 (game winner) (Guenther; Fraser) 14:29. 6, 
Arkansas-Whitten 9 (power play) (Cirillo; Pagnutti) 17:27. 
Penalties: Bermingham, ARK (Elbowing), 0:56. Fraser, BR (Hooking), 
3:40. Sullivan, BR (Tripping), 7:57. Stork, ARK (Interference), 
15:04. Kiesman, BR (Tripping), 16:30. 

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Arkansas-Marchant 19 (Cirillo; Whitten) 
2:32. Penalties: Kaiman, BR (Ten minute misc.), 19:59. Cirillo, ARK 
(Ten minute misc.), 19:59. 

SHOTS ON GOAL
Arkansas                  11 12  5--28 
Baton Rouge               11 16  8--35 

Power Play Conversions: Arkansas - 2 of 4, Baton Rouge - 1 of 3.
Goalies: Arkansas-Fankhouser (35 shots, 31 saves; record: 2-1-1). 
Baton Rouge-Sundberg (28 shots, 25 saves; record: 7-8-2). 
A: 1025.  Referee: Smith. Linesmen: Sotak; Jones.