Rivermen Skate Past Thunderbolts Sunday Afternoon
March 25, 2018 3:05 pm
Evansville Thunderbolts
Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen
Rivermen Skate Past Thunderbolts Sunday Afternoon
Pulde’s shutout, Bruce’s pair pace Rivermen to victory
Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen got two goals from Keegan Bruce and a 23-save shutout from goaltender Mason Pulde Sunday as they topped the Evansville Thunderbolts 3-0 at Carver Arena. With the victory, the Rivermen improve to 35-12-5 on the season and lower their magic number to four to secure their third SPHL regular season championship in the last four years.
After a scoreless first twenty minutes the Rivermen got the scoring started in the latter stages of the middle frame. Rivermen defenseman Dave Pszenyczny accepted a pass from teammate Alec Brandrup in the puck from the left corner and skated it towards the left goal post. The Rivermen captain then slipped a pass across the top of the crease to winger Keegan Bruce, who promptly stuffed the puck past Thunderbolts goaltender Ryan de Melo for the 1-0 lead at 16:31 of the middle stanza.
The Rivermen doubled their lead just past the midway point of the third period. Rivermen winger Michael Economos took a shot that ran off the cross bar and out to the right-wing boards of the Evansville zone. Peoria center Joseph Widmar corralled it along the half wall and threaded a pass to Bruce, who received the puck and fired his shot past a sprawling de Melo for the 2-0 Rivermen lead at 11:41 of the third period.
Peoria added an insurance tally late in the final frame when Rivermen winger Connor Gorman corralled the puck behind the Evansville net after teammate Cory Lauer chipped it into the zone. Gorman took the puck to the left-wing corner and chipped it from below the left post, off de Melo’s leg and into the back of the net for the 3-0 Rivermen advantage at 15:05 of regulation.
Rivermen goaltender Mason Pulde earned the victory in goal, stopping all 23 shots faced to earn his first pro shutout. With the clean-slate victory, the Lexington, MA native improves to 5-0-1 on the season, and has won each of his last three starts.
Notes: With the victory over Evansville, the Rivermen assure themselves of a top two finish in the SPHL standings…Bruce logged his third multi-goal game of the season, and his first since February 11 at Macon…With a secondary assist on the game’s opening goal, Brandrup earned his first professional point…Pszenyczny collected points in back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game point streak that ran from February 17th to February 23rd….The Rivermen return to action next Friday and Saturday night as they travel to Roanoke, WV to square off against the Rail Yard Dawgs faceoff is set for 6:05 p.m. CST each night…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 5:45 p.m. CST 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)
