Rivermen Roll to Third Straight Thursday

Photo Credit: Bryan Meeks/Macon Mayhem

Rivermen Roll to Third Straight Thursday

Phaneuf comes 5:16 shy of shutout in 4-1 victory at Macon

Macon, GA – The Peoria Rivermen tallied two goals 46 seconds apart in the first period and never looked back en route to a 4-1 win over the Macon Centreplex in Macon, Georgia Thursday night. The win, Peoria’s third in a row and 10^th in their last 11 outings, improves the Rivermen to 27-3-4 on the season before tomorrow night’s rematch at the Centreplex.

The Rivermen opened the scoring with a pair of goals just 46 seconds apart in the first period. Rivermen winger Beau Walker’s blast from the right circle beat Mayhem goaltender Tanner Creel at 7:43 of the period before Peoria captain Alec Hagaman sprung a breakaway and slipped a shot past Creel at 8:29 of the frame for an early 2-0 Rivermen lead.

The Rivermen pushed their lead to 3-0 just past the midway point of the game when winger Ben Blasko split the Mayhem defense, carried the puck to the top of the crease, and wrapped it around Creel’s right pad at 11:50 of the second period.

Peoria put the game out of reach with a power-play tally in the first minute of the third period. With Mayhem defenseman Zach Urban in the box for interference at 19:59 of the previous period, Peoria worked the puck to the right point of the Macon zone. Rivermen center Justin Greenberg’s pass to the center of the zone found teammate Dean Yakura, who shoveled it to the doorstep, where Peoria winger Pijus Rulevicius stuffed it past Creel 43 seconds into the final period.

The Mayhem got on the board and broke up Peoria goaltender Storm Phaneuf’s shutout bid at 14:44 of the third period. Mayhem defenseman Kristaps Bazevics collected a loose puck atop the left-wing circle of the Rivermen zone, and his wrister eluded Phaneuf’s glove and sailed into the top corner of the net with 5:16 left in regulation.

Notes: The win leaves Peoria 10-0-1 in the month of January…Peoria improved to 11-0-2 all-time against Macon in regular-season play…Blasko netted a goal to extend his personal point streak to 11 games…The Rivermen return to action with rematches against the Mayhem in Macon tomorrow and Saturday night, with both games scheduled to start at 6:30 Central Time…The broadcast of the games can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:10 at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 37th 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)