Rivermen Drop Shootout Thriller Friday

Rivermen Drop Shootout Thriller Friday

Pensacola snaps Peoria’s seven-game win streak

Pensacola, FL – The Peoria Rivermen and Pensacola Ice Flyers battled to a 1-1 tie through regulation and overtime before the Ice Flyers prevailed in a shootout at the Pensacola Bay Center Friday. The loss, Peoria’s first since December 31, drops the Rivermen to 24-3-4 before tomorrow’s rematch in Pensacola.

The teams played scoreless hockey for the entire first period before the Rivermen broke through with a power-play tally early in the second. With Pensacola’s Ryan Devine and Robert Lepine boxed for roughing and slashing, respectively, Rivermen defenseman Nick Neville fired a shot from the right point of the Ice Flyers zone past Pensacola netminder Brian Billett for a 1-0 lead at 6:41 of the frame.

The Ice Flyers tied the game with a power-play goal of their own nearing the midway point of the third period. With Rivermen winger Mike Gurtler in the sin bin for slashing, Ice Flyers defenseman Nathan Bruyere took a pass in the high slot of the Rivermen zone, and fired a wrister through traffic and past the glove of Rivermen goaltender Stephen Klein for the equalizer at 7:41 of the third period.

The game remained deadlocked through regulation and overtime before the Ice Flyers prevailed in the shootout tiebreaker. Bruyere’s effort bested Klein, as did teammate Ryan Marcuz while Billett denied all four Rivermen shooters to earn the 2-1 victory.

Klein stopped 22 of 23 shots in net during regulation and overtime and fell to 13-3-1 on the season, suffering the first extra-time loss of his pro career. Bruyere’s third-period goal snapped Klein’s SPHL record shutout sequence at 257:10

Notes: Blasko recorded an assist on Neville’s goal to extend his point streak eight games…Rivermen winger Joe Kalisz recorded an assist on Neville’s goal to extend his own personal point streak to 11 games…The Rivermen return to action tomorrow night when they play the second game of the weekend series with the Ice Flyers beginning at 7:05…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 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)