COLUMBUS, GA – The 3,486 who came to see the Columbus Cottonmouths’ home-opener Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center got their money’s worth in hard hitting, physical play and plenty of offensive chances.
Matt Summers redirected a slap shot from Nick Grasso on the blue line for a Macon power play goal, and it was enough to hold up as the Mayhem defeated Columbus 1-0.
The loss came despite the Snakes outshooting Macon for the second straight night, putting 40 shots on goal compared to 32 for the Mayhem. The Cottonmouths came close on a few occasions, with a couple of shots clanging off the post in the first period.
“If we catch a break and one of those goes in, it’s a different game,” said Snakes head coach Jerome Bechard.
The two teams each had 13 shots on goal in the first period, but Columbus went on to outshoot Macon 27-19 in the game’s last 40 minutes.
“I think both teams were tentative the first period,” Bechard said. “It was good up and down hockey, but it wasn’t very physical. I told the guys (first intermission) we have to take the body a little bit more and create some stuff. (Derek Gingera) goes in and gets a scrap (early in the second), and from that point on, the game started. I thought we kind of took over a little bit.”
Last season’s Southern Professional Hockey League MVP and Goaltender of the Year, Garrett Bartus, earned the shutout in net for the Mayhem, turning away all 40 Columbus shots one night after giving up four goals to the Snakes in Macon.
“The big boy Bartus was making saves, and he’s a big part of their hockey team right there,” Bechard said.
“It’s hard not to play your MVP, your best player,” said Macon head coach Kevin Kerr. “He had a rough start (yesterday), but I asked him if he was OK to go back again, and he said yeah. I wanted to get him on a good track…throw him back in the fire, and get him where he needs to be.”
The game was a stark contrast from the one the two teams played the night before in Macon, where the Snakes edged the Mayhem 4-3 in overtime.
“I think everyone seemed to settle down a little bit,” Bechard said. “(Tonight) was a pretty well-played hockey game where our defensive zone coverage was spot on. We didn’t give them too many opportunities, and when we did, we blocked shots. It was kind of the same thing on their part.”
“I think both teams cleaned up a lot of things over the past 24 hours,” Kerr said. “I thought it was a great game. (Columbus) probably outchanced us a little bit. Obviously Bartus came up big, and we got kind of a lucky one on the power play. I thought yesterday was kind of a sloppy game, but tonight seemed to be a little cleaner.”
“I think everyone was just gripping the stick a little hard,” said Snakes forward Andy Bathgate, who scored two goals in the win in Macon Friday night. “Playing that first one at home, everyone wants to score that first one. We definitely had our chances.”
Despite the loss Saturday night, the Cottonmouths finished the first weekend of the season with something they haven’t had in the past three seasons — a win. It took eight games for the Snakes to pick up their first win in 2014-15 before reeling off 10 straight victories, while they won their first game last season in their tenth game.
“It’s really positive,” Bechard said. “I can’t say enough about the attitude in that locker room. We deserve better than what we got tonight, but it was a great hockey game. It could have went either way. That was probably one of the better hockey games here in a year or so.
“There’s really nothing to hang our heads about. We just come back on Monday and fine tune some things, but if we play like we did tonight on a consistent basis, I think we’ll be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
“It’s the same leadership group (from last season), but all the guys who came in are tenacious,” Bathgate said. “They want to be here, and they know there’s a winning tradition here that they are going to try and keep up. In the locker room, everyone’s in a good mood, and we’re having a lot of fun.”
Text courtesy of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
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