AHL Peoria Rivermen

Curtis Sanford Stymies Peoria in 4-0 Shutout

Published on February 27, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


WINNIPEG, MB. (February 27, 2009) - In a battle of NHL-tested goalies it was Manitoba's Curtis Sanford who was flawless for 60 minutes, stopping 18 shots, in a 4-0 win over the Peoria Rivermen Friday night at the MTS Centre. It was Sanford's second shutout in nine starts as the Moose halted the Rivermen's two-game win streak.

Sanford, who spent parts of four seasons with the Rivermen in both the ECHL and the AHL, was solid in net and bested Legace, who played the 1999-2000 season as a member of the Manitoba Moose.

The Moose (40-17-0-5) opened up the scoring 12:04 into the first period on a redirect by Guillaume Desbiens. Defenseman Shaun Heshka ripped a slap shot from the right point that trickled through Manny Legace's legs after Desbiens got a piece of the puck to slow it down. It was Desbiens' 16th goal of the season.

Peoria (29-28-1-1) was held off the board but Legace kept the Rivermen in the game with 11 second period-saves. With about 12 minutes remaining in the second period, Michael Grabner skated in deep and flipped a puck that Legace snagged by reaching back and cradling the puck against his skate. A few minutes later, Nolan Baumgartner found Mario Bliznak for a breakaway against the Peoria netminder. Bliznak backhanded the puck but Legace slid and reached to his left to keep Peoria within one goal through 40 minutes. Legace finished the game with 27 saves.

The final frame belonged to the Moose though. The North Division leaders added three third-period goals to secure the win. Manitoba's second goal came at 7:24 when Greg Rallo traveled across the slot and backhanded a slow shot that was sped up by Dusty Collins through Legace's legs. The Moose struck again at 10:45 - this time on the power play. Jason Jaffray slipped a pass from behind the net, through Andy Wozniewski's legs, to Alexandre Bolduc in Legace's crease. The Moose center tapped the one-timer just out of the reach of Legace's right skate. Bolduc later added an empty-netter from his own zone to put the game away.

The Rivermen went scoreless for the fourth consecutive game on the power play, missing on three chances against the Moose.

Peoria is winless in three games against Manitoba this season, but the Rivermen will get a quick crack at the Moose Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The game will have a live radio broadcast available on Hippie 101.1FM as well as www.rivermen.net.

Peoria returns to Carver Arena on Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. start against the Quad City Flames. Beer will be available for just $1 and tickets in the Pilots' House are just $8 for Wednesday games. Tickets are available at the Peoria Civic Center Box Office, by calling (309) 676-1040 or online at www.rivermen.net/tickets.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2009


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