AHL Peoria Rivermen

Hensick's Three Points Lead Rivermen to Win

Published on February 4, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


T.J. Hensick turned in another all-star performance on Thursday as he scored twice in the third period to lead the Peoria Rivermen to a 4-1 win over the Oklahoma City Barons at the Cox Convention Center.

He finished with three points while Ben Bishop made 35 saves in the first of a four-game road trip for the Rivermen.

The win moved Peoria back into first place in the West Division (29-17-2-1, 61 pts). The Rivermen now lead Milwaukee, San Antonio and Houston by one point and the Barons by two. Oklahoma City will host the Rivermen again on Friday at 7:05 p.m.

In a game that featured 13 power plays it only produced one goal on the man advantage. With a five-on-three advantage midway through the first period, Derek Nesbitt cashed in for his team-leading 15th of the season. At 12:35 Hensick, who now has an assist in each of his last five games, sent a pass from the bottom of the left circle across the slot to Derek Nesbitt at the top of the right circle. Nesbitt quickly snapped the puck high over the glove of Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers for his ninth power-play goal, also a team high.

Oklahoma City's Brad Moran also scored his 15th of the year on a fluke goal from the red line just under 2 minutes later. Moran's shot skipped over Bishop's glove to tie the game at 14:32. Shawn Belle and Alexandre Giroux added assists on the goal.

Both netminders kept all the shots they faced out of the net in the middle frame, and at the end of two Peoria held the advantage in shots 29-27.

The Rivermen took the lead for good early in the third when Hensick erupted for two goals just 2:48 apart. The first goal came off a turnover in the Barons zone where Nicholas Drazenovic got a pass from Nesbitt, and pushed it across the slot to Hensick who buried it on the doorstep at 5:01. Then at 7:49, Hensick burst into the Barons zone with speed and roofed a back hand over Drouin-Deslauriers' shoulder for his 13th of the year and third point of the night.

With time winding down Drazenovic put his 12th of the year into the empty net to help lift the Rivermen.

The Rivermen went 1-for-7 on the man advantage while holding the Barons scoreless on the power play (0-for-6). Peoria finished with 40 shots for just the second time this year, with the other also coming at the expanse of the Barons on Jan. 7 in a 5-2 win.

The Rivermen take on the Barons again Saturday at 7:05 p.m. before heading the Chicago to face the Wolves on Saturday. Kouri's Pub in Peoria is hosting a Rivermen Watch Party to view the game on Saturday. Check www.rivermen.net for details.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2011


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