Snakes claim much-needed victory over Ice Bears

Going into Sunday afternoon's game against the Knoxville Ice Bears at The Columbus Civic Center, the Columbus Cottonmouths had lost two straight games, four of their last five and had missed several opportunities to move up in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings.

However, a strong effort by the Snakes' third line and a near shutout by goalie Shannon Szabados helped pave the way to a much-needed 4-1 victory over the Ice Bears in front of an appreciative crowd of 2,142. With the win, Columbus (22-15-12) pulled into a tie with Mississippi (22-15-2) and Louisiana (20-14-6) for third place in the SPHL standings with 46 points. The trio are seven points back of second-place Knoxville (25-14-3) and 11 behind front-running Peoria (27-13-3).

"We knew we needed to win this one for sure," said Snakes forward Craig Simchuk. "We knew coming in they'd played the past couple of nights, so we wanted to get off to a fast start and we were able to do that. We started getting some shots on goal and good things happened for us."

Neither team was able to dent the scoreboard in the first period. Knoxville -- which was playing its third game in three days -- came out flying early, but it was the Snakes who had the better scoring chances through the middle part of the period. Szabados -- making back-to-back starts for the first time in her professional career -- had to make a couple of big saves late in the period to keep it 0-0 after the first 20 minutes as Columbus outshot Knoxville 17-8.

"With most goalies, the more you play, the more you get into a rhythm and I felt that today," said Szabados, who made 31 saves to raise her record to 8-8-1 with a 3.30 goals against average and .904 save percentage for the season. "I played Friday, but it was nice to have a day to rest yesterday, and I think that really helped me get prepared for today."

Columbus took control early in the second period as Simchuk scored just 41 seconds in after carrying the puck down the right side and blasting a shot past Knoxville goalie and ex-Snake Curtis Martinu. It was Simchuk's first goal since Jan. 17, a span of 12 games.

About nine minutes later, Simchuk drove from the right wing through the middle of the ice and passed to Andy Willigar, who launched a huge slapshot from the left point that was tipped by Patrick McCadden past Martinu to give the Snakes a 2-0 lead.

"(Will Aide) just chipped it to me off the boards and I was able to beat my defender (on the first goal)," said Simchuk, who recorded his first multi-point game since Jan. 11. "Originally, I was shooting to get a rebound since we had somebody crashing the net, but I'll take what I can get.

"Our line (of Aide, Max Cook, McCadden and Simchuk) keeps things simple and grinds it out. We know what each other can do, we keep things easy, and we just try to bring a lot of energy to the game."

However, it was the Snakes' third goal of the period that was the best. At the 18:19 mark, Shawn Bates broke out at center ice, was hooked and fell down to his knees, got back up and still in control of the puck, managed to scoop a shot over Martinu into the net to put Columbus ahead 3-0 going into the second intermission.

"We got that first goal and, for whatever reason, getting the first goal always gives us so much more confidence," said Columbus coach Jerome Bechard, whose team scored first for only the second time in the last six games. "Getting that first goal makes us want to do a little more. I'm disappointed (Szabados) didn't get the shutout because she probably deserved to, but a win is a win and that's what is most important."

Firmly in control of the game, Columbus got one more goal early in the third period when Bryce Williamson netted an unassisted goal 1:41 into the period to make it 4-0 Snakes. About six minutes later, a pair of fights -- one with McCadden against Knoxville's Dennis Sicard and the other featuring Aide versus the Ice Bears' Tristan Lysko -- temporarily gave Knoxville a lift, but other than a late goal by Eric Satim that spoiled Szabados's bid for her first professional shutout, the game belonged to the Snakes.

"Knoxville is a good team," said Szabados, who snapped a personal three-game losing streak with the win. "We haven't been playing terribly, but we haven't been playing like we have been. We played well early on and the guys buried some shots. That made things easier and we were able to carry it through. This is definitely a confidence booster for us."

The Snakes play again Thursday, going to Huntsville to take on the Huntsville Havoc in an 8:30 p.m. matchup. They return home Friday, hosting Huntsville at the Columbus Civic Center, starting at 8:30 p.m. That marks the beginning of a critical seven-game homestand for Columbus.

Sunday

at The Columbus Civic Center

Columbus 4, Knoxville 1

Knoxville 0 0 1 -- 1

Columbus 0 3 1 -- 4

First Period--None. Penalties--Neal, Knox (cross checking), 13:41.

Second Period--1, Simchuk, Col (Aide, Lind), 0:41. 2, McCadden, Col (Willigar, Simchuk), 9:32. 3, Bates, Col (Bailer), 18:19. Penalties-- Lind, Col (hooking), 3:40; Valliquette, Knox (slashing), 5:54; Bates, Col (slashing), 11:39; Fulton, Knox (slashing), 11:39.

Third Period--4, Williamson, Col, 1:49. 5, Satim, Knox (Drolet, Neal), 17:12. Penalties--Valliquette, Knox (hooking), 2:20; Sicard, Knox (fighting, equipment), 7:40; McCadden, Col (fighting, equipment), 7:40; Lysko, Knox (fighting, equipment); Aide, Col (fighting, equipment), 7:40.

Shots on Goal--Knoxville 8-14-10--32. Columbus 17-13-10--40.

Power-play opportunities--Knoxville 0 of 1; Columbus 0 of 2.

Goalies--Knoxville, Martinu 1-3-0 (40 shots-36 saves). Columbus, Szabados 8-8-1 (32-31).

A--2,142. T--2:18.

Referees--Jeremy Tufts. Linesmen--Neil Campbell, Chris Crimaldi.