Rivermen Dominate Ice Bears, Cruise to Sixth Straight Friday

Photo Credit: Jim Purvis/Knoxville Ice Bears

Rivermen Dominate Ice Bears, Cruise to Sixth Straight Friday

Four-goal second period lifts Rivermen in Knoxville

Knoxville, TN – The Peoria Rivermen scored four goals in the second period and got 31 saves from Eric Levine as they coasted to a 7-1 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears Friday night. The win, Peoria’s sixth in a row, lifts the Rivermen into a first-place tie with Pensacola before tomorrow’s rematch with the Ice Bears in Knoxville.

The Rivermen opened the scoring with a power-play tally just before the midway point of the first period. With Knoxville defenseman David Brancik in the box for boarding at the 8:09 mark, Peoria worked the puck across the top of the Ice Bears slot to the left point, where Rivermen center Jacob Barber wound and fired a shot through Ice Bears netminder Zoltan Hetenyi for a 1-0 Rivermen lead at 8:23 of the period.

The Rivermen doubled their lead with a goal early in the game’s middle stanza. With the teams skating at even strength, Rivermen winger Dakota Klecha carried the puck through the left-wing circle of the Knoxville zone, got to the netfront and wrapped the puck around Hetenyi’s pad for a 2-0 lead at 3:39 of the period.

Peoria pushed their lead to three goals with a short-handed marker toward the middle point of the second period. With Rivermen defenseman Brandon Rumble boxed for delay of game, Peoria winger Alec Hagaman and teammate Kevin Patterson raced into the Ice Bears zone on a 2-on-1 break. Patterson’s pass across the goalmouth found Hagaman, and Hagaman found the back of the net for a 3-0 lead at 7:39 of the period.

The Rivermen piled on with a pair of goals late in the second period against new Knoxville goaltender Patrick Spano. With play ongoing in the Knoxville zone, Rivermen defenseman Ben Oskroba held in an Ice Bears clearing attempt and fired a wrist shot past Spano’s glove for a 4-0 lead at 16:17 of the period. The Peoria lead grew to 5-0 in the period’s final minute when Rivermen winger Will Smith one-timed a 2-on-1 pass from teammate Christian Horn past Spano at 19:24 of the second frame.

The Rivermen added to their lead with a marker early in the third period. With play ongoing in the Knoxville zone, Rivermen winger Mike Gurtler worked the puck from behind the net into the slot, where teammate Ryan Siiro rifled it past Spano for a 6-0 Rivermen lead at 5:25 of the third period.

The Ice Bears got on the board approaching the midway point of the final period. With the puck in the Peoria zone, Ice Bears forward Austin Hervey took a feed at the top of the slot from teammate Lawrence Cornerlier, and sent a shot past Rivermen goaltender Eric Levine for a 6-1 score at 7:34 of the period.

The Rivermen tacked on an insurance tally late in the third period. With the puck in neutral ice, Knoxville center Dean Yakura misplayed it into the right wing of his own zone. Rivermen winger Cody Dion raced after the puck and fed a pass across the net front to Barber, who put it past Spano for the eventual 7-1 final at 18:29 of the period.

Levine stopped 31 of 32 shots faced in net to earn the win, lifting him to 9-1-0 on the season. The win is Levine’s seventh straight positive decision.

Notes: Barber tallied two goals for the second straight game and has recorded four goals in his last two contests…Dion notched an assist in the third period to give him eight points in his last seven games…Rivermen defenseman Dave Pszenyczny recorded an assist on Barber’s first-period goal to give him a point or more in five straight games…The Rivermen return to action tomorrow night when they rematch the Ice Bears in Knoxville at 6:35 Central Standard Time…The broadcast of each game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:15 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)