Havoc avoid elimination

HUNTSVILLE, AL-The Huntsville Havoc, faced with elimination after dropping the first two games of their best-of-five series against the Knoxville Ice Bears, fought back from a two-goal deficit to stave off elimination winning 4-2 tonight on home ice. The 3,351 fans who witnessed the game at the Von Braun Civic Center watched Huntsville roar back in the last two periods to score four unanswered goals and keep their playoff hopes alive. Knoxville struck early after gaining a two-man advantage on a double minor against Keith Rowe at the 3:17 mark. Rowe expressed his displeasure at the initial tripping call and got an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Less than two minutes later regular season MVP Travis Kauffeldt of Huntsville was also sent to the penalty box on a hooking call. The Ice Bears quickly took advantage scoring two power play goals. Skating with a five-on-three advantage, Bobby Joe Pelkey beat Havoc goaltender Tim Haun on his stick side with a quick wrist shot over his shoulder. Justin Keller and Kevin Swider assisted on the goal at 6:31 of the period. The Pelkey tally still left Huntsville one man down and the Ice Bears again quickly cashed in.   This time Knoxville’s score came from forward Frank Furdero at the 6:43 mark. Furdero took a pass in the neutral zone from Ryan Moore and broke in alone to beat Haun. Defenseman Kevin Harris also got an assist on this score. The first period ended 2-0 in favor of the Ice Bears. The second period started slowly for the Havoc in a very quiet building except for a large contingent of visiting Knoxville fans. The Ice Bears continued to dominate play and seemed content to protect their two goal lead. However, at 12:04, just over one minute into a power play, defenseman Bill McCreary blistered a shot from the point to beat losing goaltender Kirk Irving through traffic. B.J. Radovich and Jeff Winchester assisted on the score. With the momentum changed Huntsville was suddenly surging and the crowd was back into the game. McCreary’s goal was followed by two more Havoc goals and a 3-2 lead for Huntsville that carried into period three. Denny Sicard scored the tying goal and Ray Ortiz the game winner within the last three minutes of the period. Sicard’s goal at 17:03 drew assists from Winchester and Steve Cooke. Helpers on the Ortiz goal which came at 18:16 were credited to Kauffeldt and Paul Falco. The Havoc continued to dominate play in the third period although, an attempt to injure penalty to defenseman Falco that came out of a scrum after a stoppage of play, gave the Ice Bears hope. Falco drew a major and a game misconduct while Knoxville sent a man to the box on a two minute minor. This required Huntsville to survive a four-on-four situation for two minutes and then kill off three minutes on the major penalty. The Havoc turned adversity into success at 13:59 when John Ronan scored an insurance goal while the teams played four-on-four. He redirected a shot from the point by McCreary who received an initial pass from Billy Tibbetts and both got assists on Ronan’s score. The first minute of the game produced a surprise for the fans when Knoxville coach Scott Hillman pulled starting goaltender Andrew Gallant who was in goal and won the first two games of the series. He came out of the game after forty-three seconds in the first period. PHN learned that Knoxville coach Scott Hillman had intended to start Irving but an equipment problem kept him out of the game until it was repaired and he could replace Gallant. Irving allowed all four Huntsville goals while facing 34 shots. Haun stopped 12 of 14 shots on goal in his winning effort. Knoxville and Huntsville will play game four Monday evening in Huntsville. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com