Havoc Chase Szabados, Stymie Rivermen Saturday

Photo: (Addison Blair/Peoria Rivermen)

Havoc Chase Szabados, Stymie Rivermen Saturday

Quick pairs in second, third periods drop Rivermen to 0-2-0

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen allowed four unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes as they lost 5-1 to the Huntsville Havoc at Carver Arena Saturday night. The loss drops the Rivermen to 0-2-0 on the season to conclude the season’s first home series.

The Havoc started the scoring just 64 seconds into the game when Jordan Wood got a breakaway after receiving a Nolan Kaiser pass through neutral-zone traffic. Wood tucked a shot under the crossbar and over the shoulder of Rivermen netminder Shannon Szabados to make it 1-0.

The Rivermen tied the game later in the period on a power-play goal from Dakota Klecha. Klecha parked himself next to the Havoc net when he received a pass from Dan Bremner and tried to stuff it under the pad of a sprawling Adam Courchaine. The Huntsville netminder, who stopped the initial attempt, left the puck out in the open for Klecha to deposit on a second effort and tie the game at 1 goal each.

The second period saw Huntsville regain the lead on two quick goals by Lou Educate. Educate’s first goal came 2:02 into the middle period when Jeff Jones fired the puck towards the net and it pinballed off a stick and fluttered in the air before Educate put it in the Rivermen net to make it 2-1 Huntsville. Educate’s second tally came on the man advantage with Cody Dion in the penalty box for goaltender interference. A Tyler French shot was blocked by Rivermen defender Mark Corbett, and Educate pounced to put it past Szabados for a 3-1 Huntsville lead. The pair of second period markers chased Szabados from the contest in favor of rookie Storm Phaneuf.

The Havoc put the game out of reach with a pair of goals in rapid succession during the middle portion of the third period. With Dan Bremner in the sin bin for cross checking, French ripped a one-timer from atop the left circle. Phaneuf made the initial save but was knocked out of position, and Educate completed a hat trick when he put the rebound home to make it 4-1. 25 seconds later, Wood ripped a one-timer from the slot over Phaneuf’s shoulder to seal a 5-1 Havoc victory.

Szabados took the loss, stopping six of nine shots before she was removed from the contest. Phaneuf made 11 saves on13 shots handled in relief.

Notes: Peoria out-shot Huntsville 13-3 in the first period, and held the Havoc without a shot on goal for a span of approximately 15 minutes…The Rivermen were unable to score in the second and third periods for the second consecutive night…Newcomer Dakota Klecha notched his second power-play goal of the season…Klecha has scored Peoria’s only two goals this year…For the second consecutive night Peoria switched goaltenders midway through the second period…..The Rivermen return to action on the road in Macon, GA on Friday and Saturday…Both games start at 6:35 Central Time, and can be heard, starting with pregame shows, at 6:15 at: http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/  

Group, Season, and single-game tickets for Peoria's 35th season of professional hockey are on sale now 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)