Rivermen Fall 3-2 in Birmingham Friday

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Fall 3-2 in Birmingham Friday

Two power-play tallies not enough to help Rivermen past Bulls

Pelham, AL – The Peoria Rivermen fought to erase a 2-0 second-period deficit before surrendering a late power-play goal and falling 3-2 to the Birmingham Bulls at the Pelham Civic Complex Friday night. The loss keeps the Rivermen in second place in the SPHL, three points shy of league-leading Pensacola with two games remaining on Peoria’s current road trip.

The Bulls started the scoring shortly before the midway point of the contest. With a faceoff sited in the right-wing of the Rivermen zone, Bulls center Shane Topf sent a pass toward the slot, and Birmingham winger Taylor Dickin darted through the circle, collected the puck, and sent a shot over the shoulder of Rivermen netminder Peter Di Salvo for a 1-0 Birmingham edge at 8:03 of the middle frame.

The Bulls doubled their lead with another marker just past the midway point of the contest. Topf took a pass from teammate Justin Larson, carried into the Rivermen zone, and split defenders Dave Pszenyczny and Jordan Carvalho. Topf drove to the netfront and wrapped the puck around Di Salvo’s right pad for a 2-0 lead at 10:05 of the stanza.

The Rivermen cut the Bulls lead in half with a power-play tally late in the second period. With Larson in the box for hooking, Rivermen center Joseph Widmar carried into the left wing of the Bulls zone and fired a shot over the shoulder of Birmingham netminder Mavric Parks for the 2-1 score at 16:30 of the period.

The Rivermen tied the game with another power-play marker just past the midway point of the third period. With Bulls defenseman Andrew Darrigo boxed for roughing, Rivermen winger Joe Kalisz carried the puck into the right corner of the Birmingham zone, and banked it into the net off Parks’ stick for a 2-2 score at 11:34 of the frame.

The Bulls got the eventual game-winner on the power-play late in the third. With Rivermen winger Alec Hagaman in the sin bin for hooking, Larson took a pass from Dickin to the top of the right-wing circle and fired it past Di Salvo for the 3-2 score at 17:46 of the game’s final period.

Di Salvo stopped 22 of 25 shots faced in goal and took his first loss in three outings since joining the Rivermen. The loss marks Di Salvo’s first regulation defeat in net since a January 12 game at Roanoke as a member of the Fayetteville Marksmen.

Notes: Kalisz notched a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game with the Rivermen, and his first multi-point night since November 23 at Roanoke…Rivermen winger Connor Gorman tallied two assists, marking his first multi-assist night since October 21 at Evansville…Rivermen center Justin Greenberg logged an assist to extend his point streak to six games…The Rivermen return to action tomorrow night when they continue their three-game road weekend with a rematch against the Bulls at 7:05PM…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:45 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)