AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen whitewash Admirals, 4-0

Published on March 8, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Milwaukee, WI (March 7, 2006) - As the Peoria Rivermen prepared to play the Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday evening at the Bradley Center, the Rivermen certainly knew that defeating the Admirals in their home rink would be difficult. With an overall record of 39-17-5-2 and 85 points entering the game, the Milwaukee squad ranked 12 points ahead of Peoria and stood among the best teams in the American Hockey League. The Peoria club's task on Tuesday evening in Milwaukee then seemed to become even more difficult when Rivermen right wing Jon DiSalvatore was recalled by Peoria's National Hockey League parent club, the St. Louis Blues, on Tuesday afternoon. The recall of DiSalvatore left the Rivermen without their top three scorers and without four of the team's top six point-getters, all of who are now members of the Blues. Missing some of their best offensive threats against one of the best teams in the League, the Rivermen got just what they needed on the defensive end from goaltender Reinhard Divis, who made 27 saves on Tuesday to shut out Milwaukee by the score of 4-0.

Divis' shutout on Tuesday was his second blanking of the season and the seventh so far in 2005-06 by a Rivermen netminder. The Admirals came right at Divis in the opening session, squeezing off 13 shots at him to register their highest shot total in any one period of the game. The Peoria puckstopper, though, was up to the task and turned aside each Milwaukee salvo. In the second period, the Admirals peppered Divis with 10 more shots on goal but failed once again to dent the twine behind him. Divis then had an easy time of it in the third frame, having to face only four shots on goal from Milwaukee to cruise to a 27-save shutout win.

Tuesday evening's victory pushed Peoria's overall record to 35-22-1-4 and inched the team two points closer to second-place Milwaukee in the West Division standings. On the road this season, the Rivermen are now 15-11-1-2. Their shutout loss to the Rivermen sets the Admirals back to 39-18-5-2 overall and to 23-9-2-0 at home.

The Rivermen grabbed an early lead just 2:05 into this tilt. Stationed on the goalline, to the left of the Admirals' cage, Peoria center Ryan Ramsay threw the puck in front, and it went into the goal after hitting either Milwaukee netminder Brian Finley or an Admirals defenseman. Regardless of how the puck found its' way in the net, the tally gave the Rivermen a 1-0 advantage and Ramsay his seventh goal of the season.

In the middle frame, Peoria stretched its lead over Milwaukee. Midway through the frame, at the 10:52 mark, Rivermen captain and defenseman Brendan Buckley notched his first goal of the season on a long shot from the right-wing boards just outside the Milwaukee blueline. Bouncing in the right circle in the Admirals zone, the puck took a funny hop and went right through the five-hole of a surprised Finley to give the Rivermen a 2-0 lead.

The Rivermen then claimed a 3-0 lead before the second period let out. Taking a nice feed from center Mike Zigomanis from behind and to the right of the Admirals' goal, Peoria forward Gavin Morgan sent a quick shot from the inner edge of the right circle over Finley's glove at 16:26 of the second to collect his 11th goal of the season and his sixth marker in the last three games.

Peoria got an insurance goal in the third session to go up 4-0 on Milwaukee. On a shot from the right point in the Milwaukee end by right winger Reed Low, Finley blocked the shot but did not control the rebound. As the puck scooted across the crease from right to left, Rivermen center Blake Evans came from behind the net to backhand the puck in the goal at the left post at the 11:15 mark of the third period. The goal was the 14th of the year for Evans.

After blanking the Admirals in Milwaukee on Tuesday evening, the Rivermen now move on to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to tangle with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. (CST).

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2006


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