Gelatt, Ford Shine as Rivermen Blank Ice Bears 5-0
January 26, 2024 - 10:30 pm
KNOXVILLE, TN – Rivermen forwards Mike Gelatt and Kalib Ford both shined on Friday with a goal and two assists each as the Peoria Rivermen shut out the Knoxville Ice Bears on the road 5-0 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Peoria opened up the offense quickly, getting pucks and bodies to the front of the net. They were able to defuse several rushes in the neutral zone and it turned into offense of the Rivermen. Kalib Ford picked off a neutral zone pass along the left-wing wall and skated into the Knoxville zone on the counterattack. Spying Mike Gelatt in the slot, Ford sent a quick pass over to Gelatt who deflected the puck into the back of the net for his first goal since returning from the injured reserve. For Ford, it marked his fifth assist in just three games in a Rivermen uniform. Peoria kept the pressure on late in the period as JM Piotrowski stepped into the offensive zone along the right side. Piotrowski had a shot blocked, but it deflected right to Gelatt on the right wall. Piotrowski skated tot eh net as Gelatt skated to open ice. Spying his linemate open in front, Gelatt sent a. Cross-crease pass to Piotrowski who deflected it into the back of the net to put Peoria up 2-0.
The second period was much of the same as the Rivermen dictated the pace of play for the most part and Knoxville only answered late with an offensive push. But this was not before Kalib Ford notched his first of the season after a point shot by Jordan Ernst deflected off the end-glass and landed right at the side of the net. Ford, already sitting in front looking for a deflection was able to locate and deposit the rebound for his first goal in a Peoria uniform and second point of the night.
The Rivermen kept up the pressure in the third period and were rewarded by two goals. The first came off of the stick of Alec Hagaman after a nice passing play with Mike Gelatt and Alec Baer. The second one came as Piotrowski picked off an outlet pass in the Knoxville zone. Piotrowski quickly passed the puck to Hayden Hulton who rifled a quick shot into the back of the net to secure his first of the season.
All in all, the Rivermen skated to a 5-0 victory as goaltender Nick Latinovich made 17 saves to record his third shutout of the season. Peoria will look for the weekend sweep on Saturday against Knoxville at 7:35 pm Eastern.
