December 27, 2002
Kingfish fall in shootout, 4-3
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release
Joe Guenther picked up two assists for the Kingfish as Brian Leitza made 33 save
for the Kingfish in net but it wasn’t enough as Baton Rouge fell to Arkansas in
a shootout in round seven, 4-3.
The Kingfish took a 1-0 lead with just 15 seconds remaining in the first period
as Jason Saal tried to clear the puck but instead threw the puck off the of Ryan
Trsek. It bounced off the Kingfish forward and dribbled through Saal’s legs and
into the net for the unassisted goal.
Arkansas tied the contest up on the power play as Jason Bermingham deflected a
shot by Matt Pagnutti past Brian Leitza at the 4:57 mark of the period. Buddy
Smith also added an assist on the goal.
The Kingfish tied the contest up at the 7:24 mark as Sam Paquet beat Saal off a
centering pass from Joe Guenther. Bryan Richardson acted as a decoy as he let
the puck slip through his reach untouched in the slot as it went right to Paquet
in the high slot.
Arkansas tied the game up early in the third period as Bermingham picked up the
unassisted goal at the 1:52 mark of the period. He picked up a misplayed puck
and beat Leitza.
The Riverblades took a 3-2 lead at the 4:39 mark of the third on a power play
goal as Mike Cirillo took a pass from Dean Stock and punched the puck past
Leitza.
Garnet Jacobson tied the game up at three as he took a centering pass from
Guenther and fired the puck past Saal just 20 seconds after Arkansas took the
lead. Bryan Richardson also picked up an assist on the power play goal.
Neither team could score in the overtimes session, and it took seven rounds in
the shootout to deterime the winner as Mike Cirillo’s goal in round seven was
the difference.
The Kingfish close out their seven game road trip tomorrow in Jackson against
the Bandits. Catch all the action on Baton Rouge’s Best R & B, 104.5 WZRB
beginning with the Kingfish pre-game show at 6:50 p.m.
RiverBlades Prevail in Shootout
Arkansas RiverBlades Press Release
December 27, 2002 - The Arkansas RiverBlades scored two third-period goals and
went on to defeat the Baton Rouge Kingfish 4-3 in a shootout Friday at Alltel
Arena.
Jason Bermingham racked up two goals, and Mike Cirillo added his 8th of the year
for the Blades. Cirillo also scored the winning shootout goal on the Blades' 7th
attempt.
Ryan Trsek opened up the scoring for Baton Rouge late in the first at the 19:46
mark. Trsek was the beneficiary of a poor clearing attempt by Jason Saal. The
puck deflected off of Trsek and went back behind Saal for the goal.
Arkansas then tied it in the second, as Jason Bermingham cashed in with his 14th
of the year on the power-play at 4:57, assisted by Matt Pagnutti and Buddy
Smith.
However, just over two minutes later, Baton Rouge found the net again, as Sam
Paquet tallied his 7th of the year from Joe Guenther on the power-play at 7:24.
Jason Bermingham got the RiverBlades even again just 1:57 into the third,
scoring his 2nd of the game unassisted.
Then, just under three minutes later, Mike Cirillo gave Arkansas the lead at
4:39, with his 8th of the year, set up by Dean Stock.
However, the Kingfish came back just 19 seconds later, as Garnet Jacobson found
the net for his second of the year, assisted by Bryan Richardson and Joe
Guenther.
Neither team scored the rest of the third and in overtime, so the game came down
to a shootout. In the shootout, each team had 7 attempts. Bryan Richardson was
the only one to solve Jason Saal in that span, while Arkansas prevailed, scoring
on 2 of their 7 attempts. First, it was Ernie Hartlieb, and then it was Mike
Cirillo for the clincher.
Arkansas outshot Baton Rouge 36-32 for the game, and was 1-for-4 on the
power-play. The Kingfish were 1-for-6.
Brian Leitza made 33 saves in the losing cause for Baton Rouge, and Jason Saal
stopped 29 of 32 offerings for the RiverBlades.
The RiverBlades travel on the road this weekend, and return to Alltel Arena next
Friday, January 3rd, to host the Louisiana IceGators. Faceoff is set for 7:05
p.m.
DATE - 12/27/02 Baton Rouge ( 3) AT Arkansas ( 4) SO SCORE BY PERIODS Baton Rouge 1 1 1 0--3 Arkansas 0 1 2 1--4 FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Baton Rouge-Trsek 5 (unassisted) 19:44. Penalties: Marchant, ARK (Interference), 2:57. Sandbeck, ARK (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 12:16. Jacobson, BR (Holding), 17:12. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Arkansas-Bermingham 14 (power play) (Pagnutti; Smith) 4:57. 3, Baton Rouge-Paquet 7 (power play) (Guenther) 7:24. Penalties: Tucker, BR (Tripping), 4:33. Stork, ARK (Holding), 5:49. Pagnutti, ARK (Delay of game), 12:17. Paquet, BR (Too many men), 13:28. Whitten, ARK (Roughing), 19:59. Paquet, BR (Roughing), 19:59. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Arkansas-Bermingham 15 (unassisted) 1:52. 5, Arkansas-Cirillo 8 (Stock) 4:39. 6, Baton Rouge-Jacobson 2 (Richardson; Guenther) 4:58. Penalties: Stock, ARK (High sticking), 7:38. Coole, ARK (Roughing), 19:36. Norrie, BR (Roughing), 19:36. OVERTIME -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Whitten, ARK (Roughing), 2:23. Jacobson, BR (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 2:23. Long, ARK (Roughing), 4:53. SHOTS ON GOAL Baton Rouge 10 4 15 3--32 Arkansas 12 10 11 3--36 Power Play Conversions: Baton Rouge - 1 of 6, Arkansas - 1 of 3. Goalies: Baton Rouge-Leitza (36 shots, 33 saves; record: 3-3-2). Arkansas-Saal (32 shots, 29 saves; record: 12-9-4). A: 3261. Referee: . Linesmen: Sotak; Wing.