Ice Flyers Top Rivermen 3-1 in Saturday rematch

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Ice Flyers Top Rivermen 3-1 in Saturday rematch

Third-period Pensacola power plays doom Rivermen in second straight loss

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen battled to a 1-1 tie through two periods, but for the second straight night, the Pensacola Ice Flyers took the lead in the third, and beat the Peoria Rivermen 3-1 at Carver Arena Saturday night. The loss, Peoria’s second straight, drops the Rivermen to 3-3-0 on the season before a home-and-home series with Knoxville next weekend.

The first period was played without a marker before the Rivermen broke the scoreless tie just before the midway point of the second period. Peoria defenseman Dave Pszenyczny fired a shot from the left point towards the goal that was knocked down in the slot, where teammate Joseph Widmar collected the puck and snapped a shot that beat outstretched Ice Flyers goaltender Greg Dodds at 7:57 of the second for a 1-0 advantage.

The Ice Flyers tied the game just past the midway point of the middle frame. Off a faceoff in the Rivermen zone, Pensacola winger Stephen Hrehoriak won the draw back to Ice Flyers defenseman Nathan Bruyere, who fired a shot through traffic and past Rivermen goaltender Eric Levine to tie the game at 1-1 at the 12:14 mark of the period.

 Pensacola grabbed the lead early in the third period while on the power play. With Rivermen winger Connor Gorman in the box for slashing, Ice Flyers defenseman Kyle Haines took a pass from teammate Garret Milan and controlled the puck at the left point. Haines fired a shot that evaded Levine’s glove and got into the back of the net for the power play tally and a 2-1 lead at 5:44 of the third.

The Ice Flyers added to their lead later in the period, again while on the power play. With Rivermen wingers Nick Miglio and Mike Gurtler each sitting for slashing, Ice Flyers winger Jessyko Bernard slipped a pass out top to defenseman Anthony Calabrese. Calabrese fired a shot from the left point that beat Levine for the 3-1 advantage at 11:39 of the third.

Levine took the loss in goal for the Rivermen, stopping 30 of 33 shots faced between the pipes. The loss, Levine’s first of the season and first in the SPHL since December 4, 2015, drops him to 2-1-0 on the year.

Notes: With his assist in the second period, Pszenyczny now has recorded at least a point in the last four contests…In his first game with the Rivermen, Michael Economos engaged in fisticuffs with Ice Flyers winger Phil Bushbacher in the first period, and each were assessed 5-minute fighting majors…The loss makes the Rivermen 2-11-0 in their last 13 games against Pensacola…The Rivermen return to action Friday when they travel to Knoxville, TN to visit the IceBears before returning home for a rematch with the Ice Bears in Peoria Saturday…Puck drop Friday is set for 6:35 PM CST in Knoxville…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:20 p.m. at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 36th 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)