AHL Peoria Rivermen

Drazenovic Scores Two in 3-2 Win

Published on February 26, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


PEORIA, Ill. - Nicholas Drazenovic and Adam Cracknell each scored in the opening 3 minutes of the third period to give the Peoria Rivermen a 3-2 win over the first-place Chicago Wolves on Friday night. The win stopped Chicago's 14-game point streak (12-0-0-2) and marked just their second regulation loss since Jan. 9 (22 games).

The rest of the weekend consists of a trip to second-place Rockford on Saturday before hosting third-place Milwaukee on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Rivermen are a combined 8-4-0-1 against those two teams.

Peoria's two third-period goals came just 1:53 apart to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The Rivermen were outshot 12-7 over the final frame, 34-27 in the game, and withstood six-on-four advantage for Chicago in the game's final 1:19. It was the first time, in 20 games, that the Rivermen won a game when trailing by any margin heading into the third period. It was also the first loss by the Wolves when holding a lead after two (23-0-0-0).

It was Drazenovic's first two-goal game of the season as he erased a 2-0 Wolves lead single handedly. His first of the night came at 16:58 of the second period while on a five-on-three power play. With Arturs Kulda and Brian Sipotz both in the box, Rick Wamsley called his team's timeout with 3:15 remaining in the period. It took Peoria just 13 seconds to convert and cut the Wolves' lead in half.

He tied the game just 45 seconds into the third period with a laser over the shoulder of Drew MacIntyre. Drazenovic carried the puck down the right-wing wall and snapped a shot off the crossbar and in for his team-leading 16th of the season.

At 2:37, Cracknell beat MacIntyre from the same spot over the same shoulder. Ryan Reaves and Jonas Junland were responsible for forcing the puck ahead to Cracknell. It was his 11th of the season and first since Feb. 5.

Jamie Hunt staked the Wolves a 1-0 lead just 51 seconds into the first period. He deflected a Sipotz shot out of the air for his fourth of the year. Ivan Vishnevskiy's power-play goal at 14:11 of the second period gave Chicago the 2-0 edge. It was the ninth of the year for the former Rivermen who scored six for Peoria last season.

Ben Bishop finished with 32 saves to halt a five-game losing streak while MacIntyre made 24 stops. The Rivermen were 1-for-5 on the power play while Chicago was 1-for-7.

The Rivermen are now 2-6-0-1 against Chicago this year and 2-2-0-0 on home ice against the Wolves.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central