Rivermen Cruise Past Thunderbolts Saturday Night

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Cruise Past Thunderbolts Saturday Night

Phaneuf falls 1:12 shy of shutout in dominant victory

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen scored 40 seconds into the first period and held the Evansville Thunderbolts scoreless until the final 72 seconds as Peoria coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Thunderbolts at Carver Arena Saturday night. The win, Peoria’s first since November 24, improves the Rivermen to 10-1-3 on the season before tomorrow afternoon’s showdown with the Huntsville Havoc at Carver Arena.

The Rivermen started the scoring with a goal just 40 seconds into regulation. Rivermen winger Ben Blasko took a pass through the neutral zone and carried into the Evansville end, sending a cross-ice feed to teammate Austin Vieth. Vieth snapped a shot past Thunderbolts netminder Braeden Ostepchuk for the 1-0 Peoria lead with 19:20 remaining in the first period. A lengthy delay ensued as stuffed animals from Peoria’s annual Teddy Bear Toss were collected from the playing surface.

The Rivermen pulled away with a pair of goals in the middle stages of the second period. Rivermen center Joseph Widmar took a pass from Vieth into the left-wing circle of the Thunderbolts zone, and rilfled a wrister past Ostepchuk at 9:35 of the frame. Rivermen winger Mike Gurtler tipped a Nick Neville point drive over Ostepchuk’s shoulder for the 3-0 edge at 12:47 of the middle frame.

The Rivermen piled on and pulled away late in the third period with goals from Guillame Naud and Blasko to make it 5-0. Evansville broke up Peoria goaltender Storm Phaneuf’s shutout bid at 18:48 of the third for the 5-1 final score.

Phaneuf stopped 13 of 14 shots faced in the game to earn the win in net. With the victory, Phaneuf improves to 3-0-1 on the season and earns his first regulation victory since November 17 at Evansville.

Notes: Blasko recorded his third multi-point game in his last four outings…Vieth set a career-high with three points (one goal, two assists)…Peoria center Dean Yakura notched an assist on Naud’s goal, his first helper since March 17 of last season at Huntsville…The Rivermen return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host the Huntsville Havoc  at 3:05…It will be the season’s first Family Fun Sunday presented by the Peoria Park District, with discounted tickets for kids age 12 & under…There will also be a pregame fan fest in the Coca Cola Lobby behind section 1 at Carver Arena, with inflatables, face painting, and balloon art presented by Fun On The Run, Wildstyle Design, and Unique Twist, respectively…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show, at 2:45, 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)