Latinovich Shuts the Door on the Storm in Bloomington
February 10, 2024 - 10:45 pm
BLOOMINGTON, IL – In front of a near sell-out crowd of 5605, goaltender Nick Latinovich made 18 saves for his league-leading fourth shutout of the season as the Peoria Rivermen defeated the Quad City Storm 3-0 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington on Saturday night.
Right off the face-off, the intensity of the Rivalry between Peoria and Quad City was on full display. Tristan Trudel and Michael Moran dropped the gloves with Trudel emerging victorious and getting the crowd fired up. That inaugurated a flurry of fisticuffs that set the tone for the rest of the contest. Late in the period, while on the power play, Jordan Ernst fired a shot wide of the net from the high slot. The puck deflected over to Braydon Barker on the left side who quickly sent a cross-ice pass to Kalib Ford on the back door. Ford tapped in his second goal in as many nights with under a minute to play in the period to put the Rivermen up 1-0.
The Rivermen extended their lead early in the second period as Alec Baer chased down a loose puck in the offensive zone along the right-wing boards. Skating to the base of the circle, he showed great patience before sending a pass to the top of the crease where Mike Gelatt was skating hard to the front of the net. Gelatt was able to get his stick on the puck and direct one into the back of the net to put the Rivermen up 2-0. Peoria’s power play was then on full display as the Rivermen were forced to kill off three consecutive Quad City power plays late in the period. But kill them off they did as Peoria’s 2-0 lead held going into the third.
Peoria owned the third period, limiting the number of Storm chances thanks to stingy defense in the neutral zone. Eventually, the Rivermen found the third goal they were looking for as Ryan Nolan sent a hard wrist shot from the left point into the back of the net for his first goal since returning from injury. Quad City managed a late push at the end of the game but it was too little too late as Latinovich and the Rivermen shut the door on the Storm at Grossinger Motors Arena.
The Rivermen with the victory improve to a 7-0-2 record against the will be back in action at Carver Arena next Friday night as they host the Fayetteville Marksmen for a three-game home set in the River City.
Photo: Tim Lester - Field Pass Hockey
