HUNTSVILLE, AL – The first time the Columbus Cottonmouths stepped onto the ice at the Wilcoxon Municipal Ice Complex, the temporary home for the Huntsville Havoc, was the pre-game skate before game one of the SPHL playoffs first round against the Havoc. By the end of the night, they had made it feel just like home.
Sam Bowles scored two goals on special teams and goalie Ian Vigier turned in a solid performance as the Cottonmouths beat Huntsville 4-2 to take a one
Columbus forward Sam Bowles scored two goals to lead the Cottonmouths to a game one win (PHN photo by Stephanie Simpers)
Much of the talk during the week had been about the Havoc having to move from their home at the Von Braun Center to the much smaller Wilcoxon Iceplex. Huntsville coach Randy Murphy had hoped that the more intimate setting would translate into a larger home ice advantage. Many of the Columbus players however felt comfortable, drawing on memories of growing up in youth hockey rinks very similar to the Wilcoxon.
From the outset, the Cottonmouths wanted to set a tone and they did, notching five of the first six shots on net. It took The Havoc until the midpoint of the first to get their skates under them and when they did, they peppered Vigier with six shots in just over two minutes. By the end of the stanza, Huntsville goalie Mark Sibbald had made 12 saves while Vigier had 10 and the scoreboard was still at 0-0.
Playing with more and more confidence, the Cottonmouths played the part of the home team to score the game’s first goal. During a Huntsville power play, Bowles chased a clearing pass into the Havoc zone. As Sibbald, the league’s Goaltender of the Year, came out to play it, the puck took a strange bounce back toward the front of the net. Sibbald lost his balance, leaving the Cottonmouths’ forward to deposit the puck into the open net.
Sixty-four seconds after Bowles’ goal, Ray Ortiz took a pass from Glenn Detulleo and scored for the Havoc to tie the game with a power play tally. It would be the last time Huntsville would be even with the visitors for the rest of the evening.
Columbus took the lead again when left wing Brett Hammond scored at the 8:31 mark after a Havoc turnover in their own zone. Two minutes later, another defensive zone miscue cost the home dearly. An attempted cross-ice pass ended up on the stick of Mitch Wall who buried the puck behind Sibbald scored to give Columbus a 3-1 lead with 6:42 left in the middle period. After that wild 9:11 span, the rest of the period calmed down considerably as neither team was able to do any more damage.
Down by two heading into the third, everyone expected the Havoc to put on a big charge. The Cottonmouths had other ideas as coach Jerome Bechard had his team in a tight-checking posture. Columbus allowed Huntsville to get just two shots on net in the first eight minutes while being content to put four of its own on Sibbald. The Havoc were able to slice the lead to 3-2 when Ryan Kretzer scored on power play at 8:43.
The Huntsville fans in the crowd once again had hope that their heroes would stage a late comeback. Those hopes were dashed when the Havoc were called for a penalty with 8:21 left. With just ten seconds left on the man advantage, Bowles beat Sibbald high to the stick side to restore the Cottonmouths’ two-goal lead. From there it was left to Vigier to hold the fort and allow Columbus to steal the very important first game.
Afterwards, Murphy said that every member of the Havoc roster made mistakes on the ice, singling out Sibbald for not making “the crucial stops needed to win a playoff series”. Meanwhile, the Cottonmouths were pleased with their performance, one that Bechard referred to as “a solid 60-minute effort”.
Game Notes: By all accounts, the Havoc did a fine job with the venue change to the smaller Wilcoxon…Vigier stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced to earn the win while Sibbald made 31 saves in absorbing the loss…Between the regular season finale and game one, the Havoc put a combined total of 75 shots on the opposing net with only three goals to show for it…Columbus’ top-rated penalty killing unit was mortal in game one, allowing two goals in four times short…Tempers flared with less than a minute to go as Huntsville player/assistant coach Bill McCreary got involved with Bowles. For his troubles, McCreary was assessed 14 minutes in penalties including a 10-minute inciting an opponent misconduct…Columbus’ line of Bowles, Hammond and Jesse Cole combined for six points…Columbus has now beaten Huntsville four straight times going back to the regular season…Game time for Saturday night’s game two at the Columbus Civic Center is set for 7:35 p.m. If necessary, game three will be back at the Wilcoxon Iceplex in Huntsville on Sunday with a 5 p.m. central time start.
Contact the author at scott.farrow@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.