Four Second-Period Goals Lift Rivermen to Fourth Straight
January 22, 2017 7:00 pm
Evansville Thunderbolts
Photo Credit: Tim Lester
Four Second-Period Goals Lift Rivermen to Fourth Straight
Green stops 16 of final 17 shots to earn 10th win in net
Evansville, IN – The Peoria Rivermen overcame an early deficit for the second straight night, rattling off four second-period goals to beat the Evenasville Thunderbolts 6-4 Sunday night. The win, Peoria’s fourth in a row, improves the Rivemren into a third-place tie with Knoxville, one point behind second-place Macon.
The Thunderbolts started the scoring just 1:19 into the contest. Evansville winger Justin MacDonald skated the puck into the left wing of the Rivermen zone, and the rebound of his shot was popped past Rivermen goaltender Tyler Green by John Scorcia for a 1-0 Thunderbolts lead.
The teams traded goals just 16 seconds apart in the game’s ninth minute. At 8:29 of the first, Brandon Lubin scored his first goal of the night to make it 2-0 Evansville. At 8:45 of the period, Peoria converted an odd-man rush as Peoria winger Cody Dion buried teammate Jeff Jones’ feed across the Evansville crease past Thunderbolts netminder Tanner Milliron to make it 2-1.
The Thunderbolts added to their lead in the second half of the first period. At 11:13, Lubin spun atop the right circle and fired past Green to give Evansville a 3-1 lead that would hold steady until the second period.
Peoria tied the game with a pair of goals a minute apart early in the second stanza. At 3:20 of the period, with Peoria on the power play, Rivermen winger Alec Hagaman carried deep into the right wing of the Evansville zone, and fed Jones in the middle, where he beat Milliron to make it 3-2. The Rivermen tied it up 60 seconds later when a loose puck above the left corner was fired past Milliron by Rivermen rookie Nick D’Avolio for an unassisted goal.
Peoria took the lead for good later in the second period. At 8:49 of the period, Jones scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Garrett Vermeersch and Hagaman to make it 4-3.
The Rivermen extended their lead with their second power-play goal of the night in the latter stages of the second. With Lubin in the box for slashing, Peoria worked the puck to Dave Pszenyczny at the top of the slot. Pszenyczny skated in and sniped a wrist shot past Milliron to make it 5-3 and chase Milliron from the contest.
The teams traded goals in the final period. At 2:28 of the third, Andrew Harrison skated into the left circle, across the middle, and wrapped the puck around Green’s left pad for a 5-4 score. Peoria got their lead back to two at 15:45 of the third when Michael Colantone fought the puck free behind the Evansville net and fed it to a charging Vermeersch, who buried his first goal since rejoining the Rivermen for the eventual 6-4 final score.
Green stopped 26 of 30 shots he saw, including 16 of the final 17, to earn the win in net. With the victory, Green improves his record to 10-1-3 on the season.
Notes: Vermeersch recorded a goal and two assists for his first multi-point game since November 17 at Roanoke…Jones logged his third career multi-goal game and his first second in the last three weekends…Connor Gorman had his four-game goal streak and five-game point streak snapped…Hagaman posted two assists for a four-game point streak, giving him eight total points over his last four games…The Rivermen return to action next Friday night when they travel to Southaven, Mississippi to do battle with the RiverKings at the Landers Center at 7:30 p.m.…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/
Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 35th season of professional hockey presented by Midwest Orthopaedic Center are on sale at the Toyota Box Office in the Peoria Civic Center, or by phone 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)
