Rivermen Win Third Straight in Shootout over Quad City
December 17, 2021 - 11:13 pm
MOLINE, IL – This one was a long time coming, it was building and building until finally, it arrived. The Rivermen defeated the Quad City Storm, on the road, in a tight game that came down to a shootout. The 3-2 victory gave Peoria their third straight victory for the first time this season.
It was a picture-perfect start for the Rivermen as they got out to a 2-0 lead in the first four minutes of the contest. Mitch McPherson was able to bury a rebound right in front of the net on Peoria’s first shot on goal just over 30 seconds in to take a 1-0 lead.
Just under two minutes later the Rivermen extend their lead thanks to JM Piotrowski’s fourth goal in two games to make it 2-0. The rest of the first period consisted of Quad City chances stymied by either solid saves by Eric Levine or solid play by the defense in front of him.
A scoreless second period led to a third period that saw the Rivermen up 2-0. The third period had been very kind for the Rivermen in their last four games, on Friday night that streak came to an end.
The Storm were able to get two goals in less than 30 seconds, one of them coming on the power-play to tie the game 2-2 in the early stages. It took a time-out and some tense moments in the defensive zone, but the Rivermen were able to rally and get back to playing their game. Eventually, the contest went to overtime for the fourth time in the last five games.
In the extra session, the Rivermen outshot the Storm 5-2 and had great chances to win, including a one-timer off the stick of McPherson with just a second left. But like a week previous, Friday night’s game was to be decided in the shootout.
After falling down 1-0 after the first round, Levine started making big-save after big save to give the Rivermen a chance. They made their goaltender’s efforts worth it as Alec Hagaman was able to convert on his attempt and sent the shootout into sudden death after five rounds. In the top of the 7th round, Marcel Godbout, who had been stopped in his previous attempt, scored on a head-fake delay followed by a quick shot.
With the game on the line, Levine had to make just one more save to deny Quad City’s comeback attempt. Make the save he did with his right pad and the Rivermen walked out of Quad City with their league-leading ninth straight game with a point and season high third straight win.
The Rivermen will look to close out the weekend on a high note on Saturday night as they host the Vermilion County Bobcats at Carver Arena. Face-off for the last Rivermen game before the holidays is set for 8:00 pm.
