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Cal O’Reilly scored three times and assisted on a pair from Hugh Jessiman as the Milwaukee Admirals beat the Peoria Rivermen 5-4 at the Bradley Center on Sunday evening. Four different Rivermen scored to help Peoria pull back within one goal on four separate occasions but failed to complete the comeback before time expired. 

 

Trent Whitfield and Chris Conner, both assigned to the Rivermen before the game from the NHL, chipped in with a goal each but it was not enough as Milwaukee scored five times on 27 shots against Ben Bishop. 

 

The hat trick for O’Reilly was the second three-goal performance against the Rivermen over the past three games as Joey Crabb accounted for three goals on Wednesday for Chicago. It was the second time O’Reilly has accounted for at least three-points in a game against the Rivermen, following his three-assist night on Nov. 26. In total he has 13 points (5g, 8a) in seven games against Peoria this year. 

 

O’Reilly picked up his 49^th and 50^th points on the season with his pair of goals in the first period to give the Admirals a 2-0 lead. His first goal came shorthanded after beating Bishop with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle at 12:02. Just 2:30 later, O’Reilly found himself on a breakaway and backhanded home his ninth of the season. 

 

Chris Porter put the Rivermen on the board with his third goal of the year at the 12:17 mark of the second period. As he carried the puck down around the bottom of the circle, he cut to the front of the net and jammed it into the pads of Mark Dekanich. His second effort jarred the puck free and through the legs of the goaltender prompting the goal judge to turn the light on. After a discussion between referee Zac Wiebe and his linesmen, the goal stood and Peoria was within one. 

 

Penalty problems set the stage for O’Reilly’s third of the game just before the close of the second period. With Justin Fletcher and Trent Whitfield both in the box, O’Reilly’s pass through the slot bounced back onto his stick and he was able to push it home for his third of the night. Milwaukee finished 1-for-5 on the power play. 

 

The two teams continued to trade goals throughout the third period to keep the game close.  Julian Talbot slapped home his 13^th of the season on a one-timer just 56 seconds in to bring the score to 3-2. Charles Linglet earned his second assist in as many games on the play. 

 

The score held until 10:39 when O’Reilly setup Jessiman for a one-timer of his own from the left circle to give Milwaukee back some insurance. Conner responded for the Rivermen with a sensational goal at 11:42 to bring the Rivermen back to 4-3. He worked in on a one-on-one and danced through the defender before faking Dekanich to the ice and sliding it in on the backhand. Conner, who also had an assist, now has 26 points in 26 games with the Rivermen this year.

 

Jessiman hammered home his 12^th of the season at 16:23 to put the Rivermen down two goals again and Whitfield scratched one across the line on a six-on-four advantage with only 0.6 seconds left on the clock. It was Peoria’s only power-play goal on three chances.

 

The Rivermen are now just 1-5-0 against the Admirals this season with their next meeting not scheduled until March 27 at Carver Arena. The loss pushed the Rivermen into sixth place, three points back of both Chicago and Houston in the West Division standings.