COLUMBUS, GA – With the regular season coming to a close in the SPHL, teams are trying to get themselves positioned for the playoffs while sending messages about how tough they will be come the post season. On Saturday, March 7th, the Pensacola Ice Flyers let everyone know they will be a tough opponent as they beat the Columbus Cottonmouths 4-2.
The star of the night was Pensacola’s Adam Pawlick. Pawlick was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring three power play goals and assisting on the fourth. He and teammate Corey Banfield, who collected three helpers, were the driving forces in the win.
Pawlick began his night 9:12 into the contest when he took a feed from Banfield and beat Columbus goalie Andrew Loewen to net the game’s opening goal. A little over four minutes later, Banfield and Steve Bergin drew the assists when Pawlick once again scored a man-advantage tally to double the lead.
Columbus upped its game in the second period and it helped Shawn Bates draw a penalty shot. Bates was denied by Ice Flyers netminder Max Strang at the 3:25 mark of the stanza but the Cottonmouths clearly had momentum going for them. That energy turned into a score at the 4:20 mark when Bryce Williamson and Matt Gingera combined to set up Chris Bailer who beat Strang to trim the margin to 2-1.
Williamson tied the score at 12:39 of the frame off a feed from Levi Lind, giving a big lift to the 3,237 fans in attendance. The tie lasted all of three minutes when Pawlick netted his hat trick power play goal off assists by Brett Beebe and Brett Lutes.
Strang (27 saves) played well in the final frame, shutting down all nine chances that Columbus had to tie the game up. Pensacola put quite a bit of pressure on Loewen (34 saves) but he shut the door as well, leading to a tense final few minutes.
The Ice Flyers put the game away in the final minute when Pawlick and Banfield helped Beebe to score an empty net goal.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.