PEORIA, Ill. (November 14, 2009) - Two power-play goals wasn't enough, but three was as Brendan Bell's goal with 16 seconds left in regulation gave the Peoria Rivermen a 5-4 win over the visiting Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night. Peoria has won four of their last five games and have moved back into second place in the West Division.Just one night after going 0-for-7 on the power play in a 6-0 loss to the Abbotsford Heat, the Rivermen finished the game 3-for-4 on the man advantage and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill against the fourth ranked power-play unit in the league.
Barry Tallackson scored the quickest goal in Peoria's AHL history, just 19 seconds after the opening faceoff. The previous mark was set by Jeff Woywitka 21 seconds into the first period on opening night of the 2007-08 season. His backhand shot snuck through the legs of Mark Dekanich to give the Rivermen an early lead.
After being unsuccessful on their first power play of the night, Brett Sonne gave the Rivermen a 2-0 lead on their second opportunity. He tipped Bell's wrist shot out of the air from in between the circles for his second tally of the season at 18:51. Steve Wagner earned the secondary assist.
Milwaukee cut the lead in half just 23 seconds later as Cal O'Reilly stole a pass and beat Hannu Toivonen.
The Rivermen got their two-goal lead back at 5:24 of the second period. Lars Eller and Jonas Junland combined to setup Yan Stastny on the doorstep for his fifth of the season. It was his third power-play goal of the year.
Two goals in less than three minutes for the Admirals tied the game with 9:45 to go in the second period. Hugh Jessiman scored from behind the net as his pass deflected off the back of Toivonen, at 7:16, as he tried to make his way back to the goal. Mark Matheson's slap shot during a delayed penalty found its way through a maze of players for his third of the season.
Peoria, who never trailed in the game, took back the lead at 18:04. Bryce Lampman's shot was tipped by Ryan Reaves and created a rebound for Chris Porter. His first two shots were stopped by Dekanich, his third shot hit the post, and his fourth shot gave him his sixth goal of the season.
The Admirals tied the game at 13:53 of the third period on Teemu Laakso's first goal of the season. O'Reilly set him up for a one-timer from behind the net to cap his three-point night. He now has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his four games against Peoria this season.
Ryan Jones' slashing minor with just 26 seconds left in the game gave the Rivermen their fourth power play of the game and first since 10:15 of the second period. On the ensuing offensive zone faceoff, Eller gained control of the puck and sent it to Bell for a one-timer from outside the right circle. His blast stopped the Rivermen from heading to overtime for the ninth time this season and third time against Milwaukee.
Toivonen finished with 25 saves in his fourth win of the season. Peoria is now 3-1-0 against Milwaukee this season after going just 2-5-1 last year.
Peoria begins a three-game road trip on Wednesday in Houston at 7:05 p.m. It will be their first meeting with the Aeros since Houston eliminated the Rivermen in the first round of last year's playoffs. The game can be heard on Hippie 101.1 FM or online at www.rivermen.net.
*The Rivermen return home on Wednesday, Nov. 25 to take on the Abbotsford Heat. Tickets are available at the Rivermen office by calling 309-676-1040 or online at www.rivermen.net/tickets.
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