PENSACOLA, Fla. – On Saturday, February 13, in front of 4,713 fans, the Pensacola Ice Flyers (20-12-3) saw their assistant captain take over the franchise lead in points despite a 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Cottonmouths (13-20-6).
The Ice Flyers outshot the Cottonmouths 26-17 through the first 40 minutes but neither team managed to find the back of the net but that changed shortly into the third period. Corey Banfield picked off a Columbus pass and skated in on Snakes goalie Brandon Jaeger. He fired a quick wrister that found twine and sent the stuffed animals flying for the annual Teddy Bear Toss. The unassisted goal gave Banfield the franchise record for points with 147 and came just 26 seconds into the third. Less than a minute later, the Ice Flyers doubled their lead to 2-0 when Stephen Buco kept the puck on his stick as he skate wide to the right and got Jaeger to commit before firing the puck to the short side. Josh Cousineau and Joe Caveney had the helpers on the goal that came 1:13 into the period.
Columbus mounted a comeback starting with a power play goal on a long shot by Chris Rial that slipped under John McLean while the Ice Flyers’ Phil Tesoriero was in the box for high sticking. That goal came with 11:14 remaining in regulation. The comeback was completed with only 1:32 left in the third on a goal by Levi Lind.
The score stood at 2-2 after the five minute overtime period so the game headed to a shootout. The Ice Flyers failed to score in the first three rounds and with Columbus converting in the second, third, and fourth rounds, they secured the 3-2 victory.
McLean stopped 28 of the 30 shots Columbus sent his way in regulation and overtime and one of the four shooters he faced in the shootout..
Text provided by Pensacola Ice Flyers media release
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