Columbus Cottonmouths keep playoff hopes alive
Still fighting for a playoff berth, the Columbus Cottonmouths picked up two points Tuesday night, blanking the Fayetteville FireAntz 2-0 at the Columbus Civic Center.
The win puts the Snakes three points behind Macon for the eighth and final playoff spot in the SPHL. The Snakes have seven games remaining, while Macon has five.
It was also a rare home win for the Snkes, who are a league-worst 8-14-3. Before Tuesday night, their last home win came on Feb. 14.
Following a scoreless opening period, Columbus’ Craig Simchuk broke through 17:51 into the second period, scoring a power-play goal, his second goal in as many games, to give the Snakes the 1-0 lead. The assists went to Andy Bathgate and Kyle Shapiro.
Shawn Bates, who returned Tuesday after a stint with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators, scored the second goal of the night, intercepting a pass in the neutral zone then sliding the puck over the right shoulder of FireAntz goalie Kyle Van Buskirk. It came at 2:46 of the final period.
Before leaving for Atlanta, Bates had racked up 11 goals and 17 assists which still rank him second on the Snakes in both categories.
“It was a great opportunity to play at that level and just learn from those guys, but I’m excited to be back here with these guys,” Bates said. “I think you saw some desperation from our team showing that we have to win and that’s the way it has to be going forward.”
“Coming back from the East Coast League, I think Bates brought the speed of the league down with him and it vibrated into the whole team playing much quicker,” Columbus coach Jerome Bechard said. “Us pushing the pace early on finally paid off with a couple of goals.”
Rookie goaltender Brandon Jaeger earned his first career shutout by stopping all 48 shots faced, while Van Buskirk made 29 saves on 31 shots.
“Goalies man, you can tell when they’re in the zone,” Bechard said. “Jag’s was in sound position all night either pushing pucks aside or getting a glove on it. Tonight that puck must have looked like a beach ball to him.”
The Cottonmouths were 1 for 4 on the power player, while the FireAntz were 0 for 3 on the man advantage.
The teams will meet again Friday night for the back end of the home and home series in North Carolina. Following their game Friday night against Columbus, the FireAntz play a pair of games in Macon, with both games having heavy playoff implications for the Cottonmouths.
Columbus is back at home on Saturday night when it once again hosts the Knoxville Ice Bears. Just last Saturday the Ice Bears closed out the third period with a pair of goals to defeat the Snakes 4-2.
Tuesday at Columbus Civic Center
Fayetteville 0 0 0--0
Columbus 0 1 1--2
First period—Penalties—Strukoff, Fayetteville (Cross Checking) 6:55; Shapiro, Columbus (Hooking) 12:35; Simchuk, Columbus (Cross Checking) 14:27; Lazorko, Fayetteville (Interference) 14:30; Kirkwood, Fayetteville (Hooking) 19:04.
Second period—1, Columbus, PP-Simchuk (Shapiro, Bathgate) 17:51; Penalties—Willigar, Columbus (Cross Checking) 9:21; Darrigo, Fayetteville (Hooking) 16:34.
Third period—2, Columbus, Bates (Graves) 2:46; Penalties--None
Shots on goal: Fayetteville 15-15-18; Columbus 10-11-10
Power plays: Fayetteville 0 of 3; Columbus 1 of 4.
Goaltenders: Fayetteville, Van Buskirk (loss) 58:18 10 10 9; Columbus, Jaeger (win) 60:00 15 15 18
Referee: Lucas Martin. Linesman: Dengler, Tallieu
Time: 2:25
Attendance: 1,479
This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 8:07 AM with the headline "Columbus Cottonmouths keep playoff hopes alive."