RiverKings Topple Rivermen, Cruise to 5-1 Victory Friday

December 22, 2017 7:15 pm

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Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

RiverKings Topple Rivermen, Cruise to 5-1 Victory Friday

Mississippi too much for Rivermen in holiday weekend opener

 

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen fell behind 85 seconds into the contest and trailed the rest of the way as they fell 5-1 to the Mississippi RiverKings at Carver Arena Friday night. The loss, Peoria’s second in a row, drops the Rivermen to 12-6-1 on the season, third place in the SPHL before tomorrow night’s game against Roanoke.

 

The RiverKings got on the board early in the opening period when center Dillan Fox took a pass from teammate Vojtech Zemlicka, skated into the Rivermen zone and crossed the center line before he flicked a wrister from between the circles over the shoulder of Rivermen netminder Eric Levine for the 1-0 Mississippi lead at 1:25 of the first period.

 

Mississippi built their lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals during the middle frame. RiverKings center Bryan Arneson sped into the Mississippi zone with Fox. Arneson slipped a pass across the slot to Fox, who fired the puck past a sprawling Levine for the 2-0 Riverkings lead at 7:57 of the second period. Mississippi added to their lead late in the second period when Zemlicka fired a shot from the left point that was redirected into the back of the Rivermen net by Artur Drindrozhik for the 3-0 advantage at 17:18 of the second period.

 

The Rivermen cut into the RiverKings lead early in the third period. Rivermen defenseman Ben Oskroba took a pass from teammate Kevin Patterson and blazed a one-timer from the high slot past Mississippi goaltender Tyler Green to trim the score to 3-1 at 1:02 of the third period.

 

The RiverKings rebuilt their lead to three near the midway point of the third period. Mississippi winger Taylor Pryce and teammate Ryan Marcuz raced into the Rivermen zone on an odd-man rush. Marcuz fed a pass from the right-wing circle across the slot to Pryce, who chipped the puck past Levine for the 4-1 lead at 8:17 of the third period.

 

Mississippi added a power-play tally for the eventual 5-1 final score late in the third period. With Rivermen winger Connor Gorman in the box for tripping, Fox put a shot on goal that was initially stopped by Levine, but Mississippi winger Pijus Rulevicius knocked the puck away from Levine and into the back of the net at 13:42 of regulation.

 

Levine took the loss between the pipes, stopping 24 of 29 shots faced. The loss is Levine’s second of the year, and first since he suffered a 3-1 loss to Pensacola November 4.

 

Notes:  Oskroba’s goal is his second in three games after he tallied a goal at Knoxville December 15…The loss marks just the second time all season the Rivermen have lost back-to-back games in regulation and the first such occurrence since November 3 & 4….The Rivermen return to action Saturday night, December 23rd  when they welcome the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs to Carver Arena for the first time this season…Saturday’s game features 2018 Rivermen flip calendars given away to the first 3,000 fans in attendance, courtesy of Midwest Office….Saturday’s game starts at 7:15 PM Central Time…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:55 PM at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

 

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 36th 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)