KNOXVILLE, TN- The Knoxville Ice Bears opened their Southern Professional Hockey league semifinal series and defense of the President’s Cup with a hard -ought 6-4 win Thursday night over the Huntsville Havoc.
The two teams put on an offensive show yet, in the end, the=2 0goaltending of Andrew Gallant for Knoxville – specifically in the third period – was the difference. A crowd of 1,358 fans at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum watched Gallant stop 48 of 52 shots to pick up the win. He was especially good in the final period as he faced a barrage of 25 shots while his team managed only three shots on goal during the final 20 minutes.
Knoxville forward Bobby Joe Pelkey scored two goals and had one assist to lead the Ice Bears’ offense. Derek Pallardy also had a three point night for Knoxville, scoring once and adding two assists. Additionally, Shaun Norrie picked up three assists for the Ice Bears. Huntsville had four different goal scorers.
Huntsville began the game playing aggressively and applying a lot of pressure on the Ice Bears in their own zone. It worked as less than two minutes into the game, Huntsville struck first when Justin Rohr scored an un assisted goal at the 1:52 mark. Gallant tried to clear the puck but it struck a Knoxville defenseman and dropped in front of the net where Rohr pushed it home.
The Havoc lead lasted nine seconds as Pallardy answered quickly. After Knoxville won the ensuing face-off at center ice, they moved quickly into the Huntsville zone and one pass and a rebound off a shot by Norrie allowed Pallardy to lift the puck over goaltender Tim Haun. Norrie and Pelkey got the assists on the first Knoxville goal.
Scoring then ceased – for about four minutes. Huntsville went up 2-1 when forward Dennis Sicard, who had joined Huntsville for the last eight games of the regular season via a trade with Richmond, scored on a wrist shot from in front of the net off of a rebound. Tim Hockley and Steve Cooke were credited with assists on the goal at the 6:05 mark. Again, Knoxville answered quickly when Chris Brennan found=2 0the back of the net less than a minute and a half following Huntsville’s tally at 7:28 of the period with the assists going to Pallardy and Norris.
Huntsville took the lead again 3-2 at 11:43 on a somewhat confusing goal. Forward Keith Rowe stormed the goal and both he and the puck slid into the net. While the goal light didn’t go on, the officials, after a short discussion with the goal judge, allowed Rowe’s goal. John Ronan and Karlis Zirnis got the helpers.
Pelkey responded for Knoxville with his first of two goals in the game within three minutes at 14:39 on assists from Brett Smith and Norrie. The period ended deadlocked at 3-3 despite both teams having a number of scoring chances late in the first stanza.
“I thought they did a great job of matching us in scoring in the first period,” Havoc coach Eric Soltys said about Knoxville’s first period resilience.
Knoxville turned the tables in the second period scoring just 3:58 in. That fourth goal and first lead of the night came on transition after Gallant made a marvelous save from point blank range. Mike Carter was able to turn it around, rushing into the Huntsville zone to score an unassisted goal on a sizzling wrist shot from the top of the slot. “that may have been the turning point of the game,” said Knoxville coach Scott Hillman about Gallant’s save and Carter’s transition goal.
Knoxville pushed the lead to 5-3 on another transition play as again Gallant stopped a great Huntsville scoring opportunity on a breakaway. Gallant made20a sparkling skate save off the toe of his boot and the Ice Bears transitioned quickly up ice, dumping it into the zone, gaining possession behind the net and Pelkey coming up the middle buried the centering pass from behind the net for a two goal lead. Pallardy and Mark Van Vliet got the assists.
Both teams managed a goal in a penalty filled third period, trading power play goals to close out the evening’s scoring. Kevin Swider, the SPHL’s leading scorer in the regular season, scored on a slap shot from the point while Knoxville enjoyed a two-man advantage with assists form Tim Vitek and Chris Rebernik at 2:59. Regular season SPHL MVP Travis Kauffeldt answered for Huntsville at 10:57 while they were up one man. He had help from B.J. Radovich and Paul Falco. Huntsville struggled on the power play scoring on one of eight opportunities while Knoxville clicked once with five manpower advantages.
Hillman, the 2008-09 SPHL Coach o f the Year, expects the next game to be more of a defensive struggle. “My prediction is more of a low-scoring affair (about game two). Tonight was a bit strange in that both we and Huntsville got the early scoring from our checking lines,” Hillman said. “Both teams’ checking lines opened it up.”
“(Our) defense (needs) to be a little more patient in their defensive zone,” said Soltys about his club.
Huntsville goalie Haun turned aside 23 of 29 shots in taking the loss. However he also received a misconduct at the end of the game for protesting what he felt was a non icing call during the final few seconds of the game after he had been pulled for an extra attacker. Huntsville played the game without Billy Tibbetts who had been suspended for an infraction late in the regular se ason. Tibbetts is due back for game two, but it remains to be seen if Haun will face supplementary discipline or not.
The series resumes Friday night in Knoxville with a 7:35 PM scheduled face-off. Game three of the series is scheduled for Saturday night in Huntsville.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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