Rivermen Can’t Hold Early Lead, Fall 4-2 in Knoxville Saturday

December 16, 2017 6:35 pm

Away | Regular

Knoxville Ice Bears

Final
3
2
1
Ice
4
2
2
0
Rivermen
2
0
0
2

Photo Credit: Jim Purvis/Knoxville Ice Bears

Rivermen Can’t Hold Early Lead, Fall 4-2 in Knoxville Saturday

Two-goal lead evaporates as six-game win streak snapped by Ice Bears

 

Knoxville, TN – The Peoria Rivermen scored two goals in the first period but couldn’t hold off the Knoxville Ice Bears as Peoria fell 4-2 Saturday night. The loss snaps Peoria’s six-game win streak before a pair of games next weekend in Peoria.

 

The Rivermen opened the scoring past the midway point of the game’s opening period. Rivermen defenseman Jordan Carvalho took a pass from teammate Michael Economos and broke into the right wing of the Knoxville zone, where he got to the top of the circle and rang a shot off the crossbar and into the net past Ice Bears goalie Zoltan Hetenyi for a 1-0 Rivermen lead at 13:10 of the period.

 

The Rivermen doubled their lead in the final minute of the game’s first frame. With the clock winding down, Rivermen wingers Alec Hagaman and Dakota Klecha burst into the Knoxville zone on a 2-on-1 break. Hagaman carried the puck through the right circle and fired a shot past Hetenyi for a 2-0 lead at 19:51 of the stanza.

 

The Ice Bears cut the Rivermen lead in half immediately after the drop of the puck on the game’s second period. Off the opening draw, Ice Bears center Eliot Grauer carried into the Rivermen zone and fired a shot past Peoria netminder Storm Phaneuf for a 2-1 score five seconds into the frame.

 

Knoxville tied the game while on the power-play late in the second period. With Rivermen defenseman Kevin Patterson in the box for hooking, Knoxville winger Anthony Flaherty controlled the puck at the right point of the Rivermen zone. Falherty fired a pass across the netfront to Grauer, who flipped the puck past Phaneuf for a 2-2 tie at 18:20 of the middle frame.

 

The game remained tied through most of the third period before Knoxville took their first lead of the weekend at the 17:33 mark of the frame. Ice Bears winger Austin Hervey carried the puck into the Rivermen zone, and his shot from the slot was denied by Phaneuf, but Hervey collected his own rebound and wrapped it around Phaneuf’s left pad for a 3-2 Ice Bears lead. Peoria pulled Phaneuf for an extra skater before Knoxville’s Anthony Flaherty put the puck into the unprotected net for the 4-2 final score at 19:12 of the third period.

 

Phaneuf stopped 30 of 33 shots faced in the game as he took the loss in his SPHL season debut. The second-year pro was also assessed a 5-minute penalty after the final buzzer as he squared off with Ice Bears forward Tyler Howe during a post-game altercation on the ice.

 

Notes: Carvalho’s goal is his first as a professional in his 11th pro game…Hagaman’s goal gives him goals in each of his last two and a point or more in each of his last eight…The Rivermen return to action next Friday and Saturday night when they host the Mississippi RiverKings and Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, respectively, with each game scheduled for 7:15 PM…Tickets to Friday’s game are available 2-for-$22 in select sections by calling the Rivermen office…Saturday’s contest is Peoria’s annual flip calendar giveaway, with the first 3,000 fans in attendance getting a calendar courtesy of Midwest Office…The broadcast of each game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:55 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)