Rivermen Earn Emotional OT Win Over Cottonmouths Saturday
January 21, 2017 7:05 pm
Photo Credit: Addison Blair/Peoria Rivermen
Rivermen Earn Emotional OT Win Over Cottonmouths Saturday
Olivieri’s sudden-death goal lifts Rivermen before 8,396
Peoria, IL –The Peoria Rivermen overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat the Columbus Cottonmouths 5-4 in overtime on their home ice Saturday night. The win comes just two days after Columbus’ team bus was involved in a rollover accident on its way to Peoria Thursday afternoon, leaving more than half of the Snakes’ roster unable to play in Saturday’s game.
The Rivermen got on the board early in the first period when Peoria defenseman Brandon Greenside took a pass from winger Alec Hagaman and fired a shot through a maze of bodies and past Cottonmouths netminder Andrew Loewen for a 1-0 advantage just 1:45 into the contest.
Columbus evened the score later in the opening period when Cottonmouths winger and former Rivermen forward Alexander Taulien received a long pass from center Evan Neugold. Taulien raced in alone on Rivermen goaltender Tyler Green to even the score at 1-1 with 3:36 left in the first.
The Cottonmouths grabbed the lead less than five minutes into the middle stanza. Columbus winger Alex Kromm took a pass from Neugold and slipped the puck between the pads of Green for a 2-1 Snakes lead at 4:17 of the period. Columbus doubled their lead 1:32 later when David Segal took a long feed from Taulien, raced in, and wrapped the puck around Green’s outstretched leg for a 3-1 Cottonmouths lead. Columbus pushed their lead to 4-1 at 9:50 of the period when winger Keegan Bruce took a feed from Neugold and lifted the puck over Greens shoulder from the circle for a 4-1 Cottonmouths lead.
The Rivermen cut the Columbus lead to 4-2 at 12:35 of the period. Peoria winger Cody Dion collected a rebound from Loewen and put a shot on goal that resulted in another short rebound. The puck fluttered around Loewen’s right as Rivermen wing Connor Gorman collected the rebound and popped the puck into the net.
The Rivermen cut the Cottonmouths’ lead to 4-3 at 2:34 of the third period on a 5-on-3 power play. With Cottonmouths Eric Scovill and Alex Kromm in the penalty box, Greenside fed a pass to teammate Don Olivieri atop the left circle, where he one-timed a rocket past Loewen to cut the Cottonmouths lead to 4-3 at 2:34 of the third.
The Rivermen drew even with a short-handed tally with 3:56 left in regulation. With Peoria captain Dave Pszenyczny in the box for boarding, Rivermen forward Justin Hoomaian raced into the Columbus zone and left the puck in the right circle for Michael Colantone, who snapped a shot past an outstretched Loewen to tie the game at 4-4. The game remained tied through regulation and descended into overtime.
The Rivermen notched the game-winner 2:59 into the overtime period. Greenside sent a pass out of the Rivermen zone to Olivieri, who raced into the Columbus zone one-on-one with Neugold. Olivieri deked around Neugold, cut across the goalmouth, and went top-shelf over a sprawled Loewen for the win.
Green stopped 29 of 33 to earn his ninth victory of the season, and his fourth straight win between the pipes. The win improves Green to 9-1-3 in his pro career.
Notes: With his goal in the second period, Connor Gorman has a four-game goal streak dating back to January 7 and a five-game point streak dating back to January 6…The attendance of 8,396 is the largest in Peoria’s SPHL era, and the largest crowd at a Rivermen game since March 24, 2012, when 8,901 saw a 2-0 Milwaukee Admirals victory in the AHL…Olivieri recorded a pair of goals for his first career multi-goal game, and he scored his first game-winning goal since March 15 of last season against Huntsville as a member of the Mississippi RiverKings…The Rivermen return to action tomorrow night when they travel to Evansville for a 7 p.m. game against the Thunderbolts…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/
Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 35th season of professional hockey presented by Midwest Orthopaedic Center are on sale at the Toyota Box Office in the Peoria Civic Center, or by phone at the Rivermen office, located at 201 S.W. Jefferson Street, or over the phone at (309) 676-1040. For the latest Rivermen news and notes, follow online at www.rivermen.net or through Facebook (www.facebook.com/PeoriaRivermen) - Twitter(https://twitter.com/Peoria_Rivermen)
