Rivermen Outlast RiverKings 3-1 Friday Night
December 30, 2016 7:05 pm
Photo Credit: Tim Lester/Peoria Rivermen
Rivermen Outlast RiverKings 3-1 Friday
Tyler Green stops 25 of 26 shots in first start since December 3rd
Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivemen scored first and never trailed Friday night, outlasting the Mississippi RiverKings 3-1 in a back-and-forth battle at Carver Arena. The win, Peoria’s 11th of the season, lifts Peoria to 11-4-6 before a New Year’s Eve rematch with the RiverKings.
The Rivermen got on the board first midway through the opening frame. While working in the offensive zone, Peoria captain Dan Bremner circled behind the River Kings net and slid a pass to Jeff Jones, who wrapped around for a shot on goal. After collecting his own rebound, Jones slid a pass across the middle to teammate Justin Hoomaian, who backhanded a shot past Mississippi goaltender Brad Barone to make it 1-0 9:22 into the contest.
The Rivermen doubled lead just 1:48 into the middle frame. Peoria defenseman Ben Oskroba corralled a puck at the Rivermen blue line and fed a long pass to Cody Dion, who carried the puck into the RiverKings zone between two defenders, and he shot top shelf over Barone’s shoulder and into the net for a 2-0 Rivermen advantage.
The RiverKings cut the Rivermen lead in half just past the midway point of the second. RiverKings center Dustin Jesseau carried the puck into the Rivermen zone and fed a pass to former Rivermen winger Alexander Taulien at the left post. Taulien then popped the puck past Rivermen goaltender Tyler Green at the 11:28 mark of the second to cut the Rivermen lead to 2-1.
The Rivermen held their one-goal lead and added an empty netter in the final seconds. With Barone off for the extra attacker in the closing minute, Jones sent a pass into the neutral zone to teammate Alec Hagaman who patiently carried the puck into the offensive zone all alone and gently slid it into the empty net to seal a 3-1 Rivermen victory.
In his first game action since an OTL at Columbus December 3rd, Green earned the win in goal for the Rivermen, stopping 25 of 26 shots faced. With the win, Green improves to 6-1-3 on the season.
Notes: With his second-period goal Cody Dion now has a point or more in his last 8 home games…. With two assists, Bremner has his second multi-point game of December….The Rivermen out-shot Mississippi 28-26 for the contest to improve to 9-2-5 when outshooting their opponents…. The Rivermen were 0-for-2 on the power play, making them 8-for-76 on the season and 1-for-39 with the man advantage since November 12…. The Rivermen and RiverKings return to action tomorrow night when they face off at Carver Arena at 7:05p.m….The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, beginning 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)
