Rivermen Take Storm to School Thursday

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Take Storm to School Thursday

Peoria defense yields 10 shots on goal for second straight game

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen held their opponent to a league-record 10 shots on goal for the second straight game as they beat the Quad City Storm 2-1 on Education Day, Thursday morning at Carver Arena. The win, Peoria’s third straight, improves the Rivermen to 12-1-3 before tomorrow night’s rematch with the Storm in Peoria.

The Storm opened the scoring with a power-play tally late in the first period. With Rivermen center Will Smith boxed for slashing, Storm winger Vladimir Nikiforov sent a pass to the high slot, where defenseman Sean Kacerosky’s one-timer was redirected by Storm winger Joe McKeown, into the net past Peoria goaltender Storm Phaneuf for a 1-0 Quad City lead at 15:27 of the opening frame.

The Rivermen answered back with a power-play marker of their own in the final minutes of the opening period. With Storm winger Phil Bronner on the shelf for tripping, Rivermen winger Vincent Beaudry collected a loose puck from the right-wing circle of the Storm zone, and fired a wrister past Storm netminder Peter Di Salvo for the 1-1 score at 18:55 of the period.

The game remained deadlocked at a goal apiece until Peoria netted the eventual game-winner early in the third period. Rivermen defenseman Nick Neville collected the puck at the right point of the Storm zone after a faceoff and dropped a short pass atop the right circle for Peoria winger Ben Blasko, who blazed a shot past a screened Di Salvo and into the net for the eventual 2-1 final score at 4:19 of the third period.

Phaneuf earned his fourth win of the season in net for the Rivermen, stopping nine of 10 shots faced as Peoria tied their own league record by allowing just 10 shots on goal for the second straight game. The win improves Phaneuf to 4-0-1 on the season.

Notes: Peoria center Joseph Widmar recorded a pair of assists to improve his league-leading assist total to 15…The outing also marked Widmar’s fourth straight multi-point game…The Rivermen return to action tomorrow night when they rematch the Storm at 7:15…Friday’s game will be Peoria’s annual Ugly Christmas Sweater game, presented by Tri County Cleaning Systems, with the Rivermen wearing specialty jerseys to be auctioned off postgame…The Rivermen will also hand out souvenir pucks to the first 1,000 fans through the doors courtesy of Unity Point Health…Saturday’s game will start at 7:15 PM, and the broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show, at 6:55, 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)