Rivermen Fall Behind Early, Fight Back For 3-2 Win
March 7, 2020 - 10:40 pm
Rivermen Fall Behind Early, Fight Back For 3-2 Win
Two goal outing from Ernst helps propel Rivermen to victory
Photo credits: Dennis Sievers
Peoria, IL – The Rivermen fell behind by two goals, then scored three unanswered for a comeback victory in front of 3,576 fans at Carver Arena Saturday night. Jordan Ernst had a pair of goals and Connor Hutchins had the game winner. The win lifts Peoria to 32-8-5 on the season and first in the SPHL standings. With the loss, Birmingham falls to 16-23-6.
Tommy Tsicos got the scoring started for Birmingham with the team’s second shot of the game. After coming off a penalty kill in which the Rivermen blistered Bulls net minder Artt Brey, a puck in the defensive end was turned over to Tsicos, who laid into a slap shot from the left circle to beat the glove hand of Quinn for the 1-0 advantage 7:19 in.
Birmingham added to their lead while skating on the power play. With Rivermen defenseman Brandon McMartin sitting for holding, the Bulls won the offensive zone draw and winger Mike Davis snapped a shot from the right circle through traffic to make it 2-0 at the 14:00 mark of the first.
Peoria cut into the Bulls’ lead in the opening seconds of the middle frame while on the power play. With Birmingham’s Cole Stallard in the box for boarding, Jordan Ernst took a pass from Nick Neville, then skated to the left circle and snapped a shot on goal, forcing it to trickle through the legs of Brey for Ernst’s 20th goal of the season.
Ernst would strike again on a power play with his league-leading 10th man advantage goal inside the five minute mark of period three. From the deep slot, the winger drilled a slap shot through Brey to knot the game at two.
Peoria got the game-winning-goal with seven minutes to play when rookie center Connor Hutchins took a feed from Regan Nagy and raced towards the net. The puck slid across the top of the slot when Hutchins swatted it past Brey for the eventual 3-2 final at 12:57 of regulation.
Zach Quinn earned his first professional victory, stopping 14 of 16 shots faced in the contest. Artt Brey took the loss between the pipes, stopping 37 of 40 shots faced. The loss drops Brey to 9-14-4 on the season.
NOTES: Connor Hutchins’ game winner was the first goal of his professional career….Zach Quinn earned his first professional victory after being signed late in the week….The Rivermen return to action Sunday afternoon as they welcome the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs to Carver Arena for a Sunday afternoon matinee….Sunday is “Sunday Family Funday” presented by Peoria Journal Star….Sunday’s game features a pregame party with face painting, balloon animals, mascots, and inflatables….Puck drop for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CST….The broadcast of the game can be heard, at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/ starting with the pre-game show, at 2:50 p.m. CST.
Group and single game tickets for Peoria's 38th season of professional hockey presented by Midwest Orthopaedic Center are on sale at the Toyota Box Office in the Peoria Civic Center, 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)
