AHL Peoria Rivermen

Bulldogs Need Overtime To Down Rivermen

Published on October 16, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


PEORIA, Ill. (October 16, 2009) - The Peoria Rivermen ended their season opening five-game home stand with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday night at Carver Arena. Mathieu Darche's second goal of the night came 16 seconds into overtime and ended the first of two meetings of the season between Peoria and Hamilton.

Yan Stastny's first goal of the year came in crunch time with only 3:06 remaining in regulation to force the extra frame. Jonas Junland scored for the fourth time and now has at least one point in each of the first five games. Goaltending was on display tonight as former Rivermen goalie Curtis Sanford (2-0-1) exchanged highlight quality saves all game long with Ben Bishop (1-0-1) who, despite making 28 saves came out on the losing end.

Scoring started right away, at just 2:25 of the first period when Junland fired a wrister from the point for his team leading fourth goal of the young season. Assists came from Stastny and Lars Eller as they teamed up to find Junland near the blue line, tallying his 3rd assist of the season. Stastny's helper also increased his point streak to four games.

The lead was short-lived with Hamilton tying the game just 35 seconds later. After a Ryan Reaves tripping penalty, Hamilton capitalized on their first power play of the evening at 3:00 minutes into the first. The Bulldogs answered back after Marc-Andre Bergeron's slap shot deflected off Barche and into the net.

The two teams traded goals in the second period as well with Ben Maxwell giving Hamilton their first lead of the game at 6:53. Chris Porter's first of the year tied the game back up at 15:29 following a two-on-one break with Ryan Reaves. D.J. King earned his first AHL point since April 2007 with a secondary assist on the play.

After a Tom Pyatt goal at 13:14, Peoria got just their second power-play of the game and did not waste it. Stastny dug home a rebound from a Justin Fletcher shot to earn Peoria a point. The Rivermen were 1-for-2 on the man advantage and have had just three power plays in the last two games combined.

Adrian Veideman was called for delay of game after closing his fist on a puck with just 1:47 remaining in regulation giving Hamilton a four-on-three advantage to start overtime. Shortly after the minor expired, Darche ended the game by tipping a shot through Bishop's legs.

Hamilton finished 1-for-5 on the power play and got 20 saves from Sanford in net. The two teams will finish off the two-game season series on Nov. 1 at Copps Coliseum in Ontario.

The Rivermen hit the road on Saturday for the first of three consecutive games with the Rockford IceHogs. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. at the MetroCentre. A live broadcast will be available on Hippie 101.1FM as well as online through www.rivermen.net.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from October 16, 2009


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