Levine, Rivermen Silence Storm 5-0
January 20, 2023 - 10:20 pm
MOLINE, IL – While a normally vibrant atmosphere, the Peoria Rivermen silenced and subdued the hometown crowd at Vibrant Arena on Friday night. Eric Levine made 35 saves to record his league-leading 3rd shutout of the season as Peoria silenced the Quad City Storm 5-0 on the road.
In some ways, it was a deja vu start for the Rivermen as they took an early lead off of a deflected shot for the second night in a row as Alec Hagaman deflected a Brayden Barker shot to put the Rivermen up 1-0. Cayden Cahill added to the Rivermen lead after a shot from Alex Carrier from the left side snuck past goaltender Kevin Resop and stopped at the goal line. Cahill was in a position to bury the rebound for his eighth goal of the season at the halfway point of the period. Joseph Drapluk added his first of two goals on the same shift as a shot from Hagaman was initially saved but produced a rebound that Drapluk buried into the back of the net. Forty seconds later, Drapluk buried another rebound off of a shot from the left side that produced a rebound off of the blocker. Peoria ended the first period in control of the contest 4-0 over Quad City.
The second period was a back-and-forth affair and though the Storm netted 9 shots on net, most of them were routine saves for Rivermen goaltender Eric Levine, who stood tall in the net. The only goal of the period came short-handed for Peoria. Alec Hagaman executed a perfect chip-and-chase off the right-side boards and skated down with Zach Wilkie on a short-handed two-on-none rush. Hagaman then sent a quick pass to Wilkie who made no mistake in depositing his fifth goal of the season and 25th point on the season, the most of any defenseman in the SPHL this season.
Levine’s stellar goaltending continued in the third as he held the Storm attackers at bay. His biggest save came on a short-handed breakaway in the closing minutes. When all was said and done, Levine had his shutout and the Rivermen had a 5-0 victory, their third straight against the Quad City Storm.
Peoria will have Saturday off before welcoming the Vermilion County Bobcats to Peoria on Sunday afternoon at 3:15 pm.
