COLUMBUS, GA – The Columbus Cottonmouths jumped out to an early lead against visiting Peoria at the Civic Center, determined to snap an eight-game home winless skid dating back to last season.
In the end, however, the Rivermen stormed back with four unanswered goals in the final two periods, defeating the Snakes 4-2 before a crowd of 1,843. It kept the Snakes winless at home in nine straight, dating back to March 22 of last season, and was the fifth straight loss overall.
Both teams started the game rather slowly before things turned physical near the midway point of the first period.
It started with defenseman Spencer Galbraith facing off with the Rivermen’s Dakota Klecha in a fight, then former Snake and Peoria captain Dan Bremner tangling with the Cottonmouths’ Craig Simchuk just 25 seconds later. Bremner would receive a double-minor for roughing, compared to just two minutes for Simchuk, putting Columbus on the power play.
Thirty-one seconds later, the Cottonmouths went to a two-man advantage after Peoria defenseman Dan Pszenyczny was assessed an intent-to-injure match penalty, high-sticking new Cottonmouth Chad Brears to the ice.
Andy Bathgate made the Rivermen pay immediately, tipping a Ben Bauer slapshot past Peoria goatlender Tyler Parks to give Columbus a 1-0 advantage.
“I don’t usually find myself standing in front of the net, so it was cool to be there for a second,” said Bathgate, who scored his first goal since tallying a pair in the first game of the season Oct. 21 at Macon. “We moved it around well, got a couple of shots to the net, and that was kind of nice. We finally got our power play going, and we need that to get going if we want to win any games here.”
Defenseman Rusty Hafner gave the Snakes their first multiple-goal lead at home all season, stepping up in the play and roofing a shot over Parks’ glove side to put Columbus ahead 2-0.
“The puck came right to me,” Hafner said. “I passed it to our winger and saw the opportunity to jump up and be the third man in the play. Bathgate found me on a great pass coming across the middle, and I put it right over the goalie’s shoulder.”
“I want my D to step up at the right time all the time and join the play,” Columbus head coach Jerome Bechard said. “The defenseman joins the rush, goes rink-wide to get the goalie going side to side, then roofs it. It was a picture-perfect 3-on-2.
“They came in and played their game, the ref called a couple of penalties early to stop some of the madness, and we were lucky enough to get our power play going and then get a nice 5-on-5 goal. We played a great first period.”
In the second period, however, the ice started to tilt towards Peoria. The injury bug also bit the Cottonmouths, as both Brears and defenseman Spencer Galbraith suffered injuries to shorten their nights on the ice.
“It comes down to being short on bodies,” Bechard said. “Galbraith blocks a shot and is pretty much done after the first period. The game changed as soon as Brears took a hit and left the game. With a couple of scraps here and there, we were playing with three and four defensemen, and we were holding on for the most part. We were basically playing not to lose. We made some bad reads that cost us goals.”
“It’s hard to say the effort wasn’t there, because the effort was there,” Hafner said. “We just have to bear down. I think the lack of players throughout the game caught up with us.”
Bremner and Cody Dion scored goals in the second period to knot the game at 2 heading into the final frame, with Terrence Wallin scoring the game-winner for the Rivermen late in the third period. Michael Colantone’s insurance empty-netter sealed the victory.
The Cottonmouths get a chance for instant redemption Saturday night, with the same teams squaring off at 7:30 p.m. at the Civic Center.
“We have to regroup,” Bechard said. “It’ll be their third game in three nights, so we have to play smarter. What I didn’t like the last two periods was that we knew we were shorthanded, but we had guys trying to do too much on their own at the wrong times. When we have a full lineup, go and do what you can, but when we’re short, that’s when we have to play simpler.”
“With a game like this, playing against them the next night is actually pretty good,” Bathgate said. “They’re going to come in confident, and we’re going to come in (ticked) off. If we’re not (ticked) off already, we should be a little bit more, so I’m looking forward to it.”
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