KNOXVILLE, TN – The Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Louisiana IceGators 4-3 in front of a tropical crowd of 3,394 Friday night at the Knoxville Civic Center.
Knoxville jumped out to a sizable lead, kicked off by pugilist Dennis Sicard. Catching the IceGators in a line change, Sicard took a pass in stride from Jason Price to fire a shot over the shoulder of Louisiana netminder for his second goal of the season and first as a member of the Knoxville Ice Bears.
In the second period, the Ice Bears rattled off three consecutive goals Francis Drolet notched the first of the period followed by two consecutive markets by rookie Josh Cousineau. The visiting IceGators looked down and out but with time winding down in the period, Kirk Byczynski managed to find the back of the net off a shot through a mass of humanity in front of Ice Bears goaltender Bryan Hince. After 40 minutes of play, Knoxville lead 4-1.
Louisiana made the game interesting when Jeremy Boyer and Chris Wilson each scored to drawn the visitors within one and over nine minutes remaining in the game.
Coach Mike Craigen looked to settle his team down following the IceGators third goal. He utilized Knoxville’s only allotted time out of the game. Hince and the rest of the Ice Bears locked down the final half of the period to cement the win 4-3 and to draw within two points of league leading Peoria.
The Ice Bears return to action at home tomorrow night in a rematch against the Louisiana IceGators on Feb. 14for Country Night presented by Q100. Live music by The Band Temper and Valentine’s Day jewelry provided by Brimley’s Gold Exchange and Kimball’s Jewelry will be given away to a luck fan. To order tickets call 865-656-4444 or visit www.knoxvilleicebears.com.
Mercedes Benz of Knoxville 3 Stars of the Game
1st Star – Josh Cousineau – Knoxville 2nd Star – Dennis Sicard – Knoxville 3rd Star – Jake Johnson – Knoxville
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