December 15, 2002
Kingfish fall to RiverBlades 3-1
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release
For the third straight game, the Kingfish surrendered the first three goals of
the game before getting on the board as the fell 3-1 to the Arkansas RiverBlades
in the first game of their seven game road trip.
The Kingfish kept the RiverBlades off the board till the 14:30 mark of the first
period when Mike Renzi tipped a centering pass from Damon Whitten back in behind
Jeff Blair to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead. Terry Marchant also picked up an assist
on the goal.
Mike Sandbeck extended the Arkansas lead to two goals just two minutes later as
he took a pass from Dean Stock and slipped past the Kingfish defense and roofed
one over Blair's shoulder. Philippe Lakos picked up a helper on the goal.
Matt Pagnutti extended the Arkansas lead to three as he tallied a power play
goal just five minutes into the second period. Buddy Smith found Pagnutti open
at the high slot and fed him the puck. The defenseman's slap shot beat Blair
over the shoulder. Hartlieb added an assist on the power play goal.
Jason Norrie picked up the only Kingfish goal just 1:13 into the third period as
he deflected a Joe Guenther shot past Jason Saal. Tom Kaiman set up Gunether at
the left point to set up the play.
Jeff Blair made 18 saves in the loss as he falls to 4-10-3 on the season. The
Kingfish could not capitalize on any of their power play opportunities in the
game.
The Kingfish continue their seven game road trip on Wednesday as they travel to
Cincinnati to take on the Cyclones. Catch all the action on Baton Rouge's Best R
& B, 104.5 WZRB beginning with the Kingfish pre-game show at 5:50 p.m.
RiverBlades Filet The Fish
Sunday Dec 15, 2002
The Arkansas RiverBlades jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to defeat the
Baton Rouge Kingfish 3-1 Sunday at Alltel Arena.
Matt Pagnutti got his 8th goal of the year on the power-play, and Mike Renzi and
Mike Sandbeck each had goals in the win.
Mike Renzi opened the scoring at 14:37 of the first period, netting his 5th of
the year and 2nd as a RiverBlade. Damon Whitten and Terry Marchant assisted on
the play.
Mike Sandbeck then made it 2-0 at 16:35 of the first, set up by Dean Stock on a
2-on-1 break. Philippe Lakos also had a helper on the play.
Matt Pagnutti then extended the lead to 3-0 at the 4:54 mark of the second
period, notching his 8th of the year, set up by Buddy Smith and Ernie Hartlieb.
All 8 of Pagnutti's goals this year have come on the power-play.
Baton Rouge made it interesting at 1:13 of the third, as Jason Norrie tallied
his 11th of the year, assisted by Joe Guenther and Tom Kaiman. But there would
be no comeback this time, as the RiverBlades held on to move two points closer
to division-leading Louisiana and Mississippi. With 35 points, third-place
Arkansas is now 3 points out of first.
Shots on goal were even at 21 for the game, and Arkansas was 1-for-5 on the
power-play. Baton Rouge was 0-for-5.
Arkansas returns to the Alltel Arena this Wednesday to host the Mississippi Sea
Wolves. Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
DATE - 12/15/02 Baton Rouge ( 1) AT Arkansas ( 3) SCORE BY PERIODS Baton Rouge 0 0 1--1 Arkansas 2 1 0--3 FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Arkansas-Renzi 2 (Whitten; Marchant) 14:38. 2, Arkansas-Sandbeck 5 (game winner) (Stock; Lakos) 16:35. Penalties: Gore, BR (Slashing), 1:05. Renzi, ARK (Slashing), 1:05. Jones, BR (Tripping), 2:26. Norrie, BR (Roughing), 7:15. Mathieu, BR (Roughing), 7:15. Coole, ARK (Roughing), 7:15. Cirillo, ARK (Slashing), 8:42. Gore, BR (Hooking), 9:08. Whitten, ARK (Roughing), 12:02. Cheredaryk, BR (Slashing), 12:02. Long, ARK (Roughing), 13:32. Peach, BR (Roughing), 13:32. Scott, ARK (Fighting, Major), 15:41. Cheredaryk, BR (Fighting, Major), 15:41. Long, ARK (Holding), 18:13. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Arkansas-Pagnutti 8 (power play) (Smith; Hartlieb) 4:54. Penalties: Pagnutti, ARK (Tripping), 1:48. Cheredaryk, BR (Roughing), 3:46. Marchant, ARK (Board check), 12:22. Tucker, BR (Tripping), 18:29. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Baton Rouge-Norrie 11 (Guenther; Kaiman) 1:13. Penalties: Renzi, ARK (Butt ending, Double minor), 5:10. Paquet, BR (Cross checking), 5:10. Lakos, ARK (Holding stick), 13:00. Whitten, ARK (Roughing), 17:20. Richardson, BR (Roughing), 17:20. Stock, ARK (Roughing), 17:20. Peach, BR (Roughing), 17:20. SHOTS ON GOAL Baton Rouge 2 11 8--21 Arkansas 13 4 3--20 Power Play Conversions: Baton Rouge - 0 of 5, Arkansas - 1 of 5. Goalies: Baton Rouge-Blair (20 shots, 17 saves; record: 4-10-3). Arkansas-Saal (21 shots, 20 saves; record: 11-6-4). A: 2104. Referee: Brown. Linesmen: Jones; Finley.