Rivermen Skate to 4-2 Victory over Pensacola
March 8, 2024 - 10:15 pm
PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Rivermen skated to a 4-2 victory over the Pensacola Ice Flyers on Friday night at Carver Arena. The win marked Peoria’s third in a row and ninth straight on home ice.
Peoria took the fight to Pensacola early, as a great passing play from Dante Zapata found Brayden Barker at the base of the left-wing circle on a quick pass. Barker sent a cross-crease back to JM Piotrowski who deflected the puck upstairs for a quick 1-0 lead. Though Pensacola tied the game on a breakaway a few minutes later, the Rivermen responded soon after. A won board battle along the left side found the puck going to Cayden Cahill. As Cahill skated to open ice in the high slot, the sent a hard slap-shot to the goal that sailed into the back of the net to put the Rivermen up 1-0. Though the Ice Flyers received a late power play, the Rivermen's defense held firm to maintain the 2-1 lead going into the second period.
Both teams had back-and-forth chances in the second with Nick Latinovich making several key saves to keep the Rivermen in front.
It did not take long for the Rivermen to extend their lead in the third period as JM Piotrowski was able to send a shot from the left-wing boards on the net with traffic in front. The shot from Piotrowski found its way into the back of the net to mark Piotrowski’s second goal of the game and fifth in his last two outings. Less than a minute later, on the power play, Zach Wilkie added on a power-play goal with a hard wrist shot from the high slot to extend the Rivermen lead to 4-1. Though the Ice Flyers were able to get a goal back off of a deflection it was too little, too late as the Rivermen skated to their ninth consecutive home victory.
Peoria will host the Ice Flyers for a final time this season on Saturday night in the deciding game of the season series between the Rivermen and Pensacola. Peoria will rebrand to the Peoria Penicillin on Saturday night as a part of their Rivermen Rebrand Night. Face-off is set for 7:15 pm.
Photo: Elizabeth Maier - Peoria Rivermen
