Lynx fight past rival

A Greenville Grrrowl jersey lay bunched up near center ice at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.

Augusta Lynx forward Jarrett Thompson left it there after pulling it off defenseman Vladimer Gusev. The fight between them capped a series of brawls in the second period of Friday's 3-0 victory for Augusta.Twice play had to be stopped for at least 10 minutes while officials broke up fights and sorted out penalties. Players collected the discarded gloves, sticks and helmets - evidence of two fan-pleasing throwdowns that resulted in 17 penalties and three ejections in the second period alone.

"That's old-time hockey," said Thompson, who got to watch the third period in a suit after he and Gusev got game-misconduct penalties.

The 3,277 fans in attendance showed their approval of the fisticuffs with overwhelming ovations to end the second period and start the third.

The Lynx parlayed that emotion to a critical win that allowed them to gain ground in the American Conference playoff hunt.

Lynx goaltender Jason Saal's third shutout of the season and 20th of his career allowed Augusta (18-24-7, 52 points) to cut a Mississippi (24-27-4, 52 points) lead to nine points in the race for the conference's final post-season berth.

"We came together as a group tonight and stood up for each other," Thompson said.

Augusta's Dan Sullivan and Greenvilles' Daryl Pierce had the games' first fight, a fairly tame first-period affair when compared to the second-period version of Friday Night Fights.

The first round started after the Lynx took a 2-0 lead on a goal from Louis Goulet about 13 minutes into the period. Augusta's Treavor Peterson and Greenville's Carl Mallette started it, and the rest of the players on the ice paired off.

Round 2 began when one of the Greenville players skated into Saal without letting up. Defensemen Sean Connolly and Phil Cole stood up for Saal and everyone started pairing off again.

For the game, there was 158 penalty minutes - 138 of which came during the second period.

"I've talked about team toughness all along, and we had that tonight," Lynx coach Stan Drulia said.

GREENVILLE000-0

AUGUSTA111-3

FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, AUGUSTA-SULLIVAN 1 (GAME WINNER) (JOHNSON; CONNOLLY) 1:35. PENALTIES: SULLIVAN, AUG (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 4:01. PIERCE, GRV (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 4:01. PITIRRI, GRV (HOOKING), 9:19. PIERCE, GRV (HIGH STICKING), 13:03.

SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 2, AUGUSTA-GOULET 13 (JOHANSSON; PETERSON) 12:21. PENALTIES: MALLETTE, GRV (HIGH STICKING), 2:11. BARCH, GRV (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 2:11. KING, AUG (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 2:11. CONNOLLY, AUG (TRIPPING), 7:23. MALLETTE, GRV (TEN MINUTE MISC.), 12:21. BARCH, GRV (TEN MINUTE MISC.), 12:21. MAGOWAN, AUG (TEN MINUTE MISC.), 12:21. PETERSON, AUG (UNSPORTSMANLIKE COND), 12:21. METCALFE, GRV (TEN MINUTE MISC., GAME MISC.), 12:21. PETERSON, AUG SERVED BY SCHMIDT (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 12:21. METCALFE, GRV (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 12:21. THOMPSON, AUG (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 19:18. GUSEV, GRV (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 19:18. COLE, AUG (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 19:18. BERGIN, GRV (FIGHTING, MAJOR), 19:18. CONNOLLY, AUG (TEN MINUTE MISC.), 19:18. THOMPSON, AUG (GAME MISC.), 19:18. GUSEV, GRV (GAME MISC.), 19:18. FERGUSON, GRV (ROUGHING, TEN MINUTE MISC.), 19:18.

THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 3, AUGUSTA-JOHANSSON 9 (POWER PLAY) (CONNOLLY; GOULET) 12:50. PENALTIES: PIERCE, GRV (CHARGING), 11:51. FERGUSON, GRV (ROUGHING), 15:16. DZIEDUSZYCKI, AUG (SLASHING), 15:16.

SHOTS ON GOAL: GREENVILLE 8-8-10-26; AUGUSTA 13-11-13-37. POWER PLAY CONVERSIONS: GREENVILLE 0-FOR-3, AUGUSTA 1-FOR-5.GOALIES: GREENVILLE-BRODEUR (37 SHOTS, 34 SAVES; RECORD: 13-14-1). AUGUSTA-SAAL (26 SHOTS, 26 SAVES; RECORD: 13-14-4). A: 3,277. REFEREE: MATTSON. LINESMEN: OWEN; WICKLUM.