February 29, 2020 8:00 pm

Home | Regular

Pensacola Ice Flyers

Final
3
2
1
Ice
3
0
1
1
Rivermen
2
0
1
1

Pensacola Prevails in Overtime, 3-2

Two goals not enough as Rivermen drop second straight to Ice Flyers

Photo credits: Dennis Sievers

 

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen and Pensacola Ice Flyers once again played to a one goal game at Carver Arena, this time needing an overtime session to decide a winner. Peoria got goals from Drew Doyon and Nathan Pelligra, but the Ice Flyers snuck past Peoria, 3-2 in overtime in front of 3,071 fans inside Carver Arena. With the loss, Peoria falls to 30-8-5, remaining second in the SPHL standings. With the win, Pensacola improves to 22-10-11 and stay in the fifth spot in the standings.

 

The Rivermen opened the scoring in the opening minutes of the first period when newcomer Drew Doyon collected the puck below the goal line in the Rivermen offensive zone. Doyon spun from a defender and snapped a shot towards the goal that deflected into the back of the net off Ice Flyers goaltender Chase Perry for the 1-0 Rivermen edge at 1:57 of the first frame, giving Doyon his first professional goal in his second pro game.

 

Pensacola evened things up while skating with the man advantage late in the first period. With Rivermen defenseman Johan Hoglund serving a holding penalty, Pensacola cycled the puck in the Rivermen end. Ray Pigozzi slipped the puck out to the blue line for Jake Howie, who snapped the shot through traffic and over the left shoulder of Rivermen goaltender Ryland Pashovitz to even the score, 1-1 at 13:51 of the first period.

 

Peoria regained the lead just past the midway point of the second period while the teams were skating four-on-four. The Rivermen were cycling the puck in their offensive zone when defenseman Paul Fregeau found Nathan Pelligra at the top of the crease. Pelligra spun around a defender and swatted the puck past an outstretched Perry and into the back of the net for the 2-1 Rivermen advantage, giving Pelligra his first goal in a Rivermen jersey.

 

The Ice Flyers again evened the score in the closing minutes of the middle stanza when Tanner Froese slipped the puck into the slot where Brett DAndrea fired the puck over Pashovitz to even the score, 2-2 at 18:10 of the second period.

 

Neither team could find the back of the net in the final period of regulation and the game moved into an overtime period tied at two a piece. The overtime session saw good opportunities on both ends, but Pensacola found the back of the net when Howie collected the puck along the left-wing boards and skated in on Pashovitz, sliding the puck through the net minder for the game-winning goal and 3-2 final score at 2:13 of the overtime period.  

 

Ryland Pashovitz took the loss between the pipes, stopping 33 of 36 shots faced in the overtime loss. With the loss, Pashovitz drops to 5-1-1 on the season with Peoria. Chase Perry earned the win in goal for Pensacola, his second consecutive, stopping 21 of 23 shots faced. Perry improves to 13-7-7 on the season.

 

NOTES: With his first period goal, Drew Doyon collected his first professional goal…..Nathan Pelligra tallied his first SPHL goal since 12/29/18….The Rivermen return to action Next weekend with a three-in-three weekend… Friday night the Rivermen host the Birmingham Bulls at Carver Arena….Friday’s game kicks off Hall of Fame weekend where the Rivermen will honor JF Boutin….Friday night is “Guaranteed” win night, the Rivermen win or everyone in attendance receive a free ticket to the March 8th game….Lastly, Friday’s game will feature Rivermen drawstring backpacks to the first 1,000 fans through the doors, presented by Homefield Energy….Puck drop for Saturday’s game is scheduled for  7:15 p.m. CST….The broadcast of the game can be heard, at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/ starting with the pre-game show, at 7:00 p.m. CST.

 

Group and single game tickets for Peoria's 38th season of professional hockey presented by Midwest Orthopaedic Center are on sale at the Toyota Box Office in the Peoria Civic Center, 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)