Rivermen Weather Storm, Return to Win Column Sunday

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Weather Storm, Return to Win Column Sunday

Sicard notches two assists, Phaneuf earns season’s first shutout

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen scored three times and piled 53 shots on goal Sunday en route to topping the Quad City Storm 3-0 at Carver Arena. The win improves the Rivermen to 35-5-6 on the season with 10 games remaining in the regular-season schedule.

Both teams were held scoreless through the first 20 minutes of play. Peoria out-shot the Storm 18-3 in the first period, including 15 unanswered shots to close the frame.

Rivermen defenseman Kevin Patterson finally broke the scoreless tie with under a minute to play in the middle period. Peoria defenseman Jake Hamilton wristed a shot toward the net from the left point of the Quad City zone, and Rivermen winger Dennis Sicard deflected the puck, which caromed off Quad City netminder Di Salvo’s pad to the low left wing. Patterson put the rebound into the net from just outside the crease for his eighth goal of the season, giving Peoria the one-goal advantage at19:28 of the period.

Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman doubled the Rivermen lead for the Rivermen at the 4:48 mark of the third period, firing a wrister from the slot past Di Salvo’s glove for a 2-0 lead. Sicard notched a secondary assist to give the veteran his first multi-assist game since February 17 of last season.

Rivermen winger Drake Hunter added the third and final goal of the game when he netted his third goal of the season, finishing a net-front feed from teammate Ben Blasko at 15:35 of the period, leaving Peoria as the 3-0 winner when the final buzzer sounded.

Rivermen goaltender Storm Phaneuf turned aside all 12 shots he faced in net to earn the win, including six in the second period. The win is Phaneuf’s 13^th of the season, and gives the Gatineau, QC native his first shutout since April 1, 2017 against the Fayetteville FireAntz.

Notes: With the win the Rivermen secure themselves of a top-three finish in the standings, locking Knoxville behind them…Blasko posted his 40^th assist and 57^th point of the season, both league-highs…Patterson logged his first game-winning goal since February 1 at Macon…The Rivermen hit the road next weekend for a two-game set with the Knoxville Ice Bears in Tennessee Friday and Saturday night…Puck drop for both games is set for 6:30 PM Central Time…The broadcast 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)