Rivermen Force Overtime, Edge Thunderbolts Saturday

December 15, 2018 7:15 pm

Away | Regular

Evansville Thunderbolts

Final
3
2
1
Thunderbolts
3
1
1
1
Rivermen
4
2
1
0

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Force Overtime, Edge Thunderbolts Saturday

Oskroba’s overtime winner lifts Rivermen to fifth straight win

 

Evansville, IN – The Peoria Rivermen battled back to tie the game twice in the third period, including once in the final minute of regulation, before topping the Evansville Thunderbolts 4-3 in overtime at the Ford Center Saturday night. The win, Peoria’s fifth in a row, lifts the Rivermen to 14-1-3 on the season before next weekend’s games at Quad City.

The Thunderbolts opened the scoring with a goal late in the game’s opening period. Thunderbolts winger Pijus Rulevicius carried the puck through neutral ice and into the center of the Rivermen zone. His pass to the right-wing circle found Evansville defenseman Brandon Lubin, who leaned into a wrist shot that sailed over the shoulder of Rivermen netminder Storm Phaneuf for a 1-0 score at 18:32 of the frame.

 

Evansville doubled their lead with a marker early in the second period. Rulevicius’s try from above the left corner of the Rivermen zone was turned away, but Evansville center Nathan Ferriero’s second effort hopped over Phaneuf’s right leg and into the net at 1:34 of the frame.

 

Peoria got on the board in the middle stages of the second period. Rivermen winger Mike Gurtler corralled the puck in the right wing of the Thunderbolts end and slipped it up the half boards to teammate Kevin Patterson. Patterson’s cross-ice pass was one-timed by Peoria center Will Smith past Thunderbolts goaltender Braeden Ostepchuk for a 2-1 score at 8:37 of the frame.

 

The Rivermen tied the game with a goal nearly midway through the third period. Rivermen winger Austin Vieth took a pass from teammate Vincent Beaudry and carried into the right-wing circle, lofting a shot over Ostepchuk’s shoulder and into the net for the 2-2 score at 9:31 of the third period.

 

The Thunderbolts re-took the lead with a power-play goal late in the third period. With Rivermen winger Alec Hagaman boxed for high sticking, Thunderbolts winger Mark Petaccio parked himself above the left corner, barged to the Rivermen net, and stuffed the puck past Phaneuf for the 3-2 score at 15:05 of the frame.

 

The Rivermen tied the game with a power-play goal of their own in the final period of regulation, while Phaneuf was off for an extra attacker. Smith fired a shot from the left-wing point and Gurtler, camped netfront, redirected it past Ostepchuk for the 3-3 tie at 19:01 of the third period.

 

The game remained tied and descended into overtime, where the Rivermen sealed the victory. Peoria rushed down the ice from their own zone, and Hagaman dropped a pass to the high slot, where Peoria defenseman Ben Oskroba wound up and rifled a shot past Ostepchuk for the game-winner at 2:32 of overtime.

 

Phaneuf stopped 11 of 14 shots faced in net to earn his fifth win of the season in net. The win also gives Phaneuf a three-game personal winning streak between the pipes.

 

Notes: Oskroba’s game-winning goal is the second of his career and his first since November 7, 2015 at the Louisiana IceGators…Gurtler, Vieth, and Smith each recorded a goal and an assist…Peoria’s extra-attacker equalizer marks their first such comeback this season…The Rivermen return to action next Friday and Saturday when they take on the Quad City Storm at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline…Friday’s and Saturday’s games will start at 7:10 PM, and the broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show, at 6:50, at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

 

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 37th 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)