AHL Peoria Rivermen

Houston Blows Game Open With Four-goal Third Period

Published on December 17, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Houston, TX - Had this game ended after two periods, the Rivermen might have come away from the game with a much better feeling than the feeling with which they ended up. Although Peoria was down 3-2 at the second intermission, the Rivermen had played well to that point and were within only one goal of the West Division-leading Aeros. Hockey games, however, always include at least three periods of play, and the third period of this contest dramatically affected the outcome of the game. In that third period, the Rivermen were overcome by four unanswered goals by the Aeros, and Peoria ended up with a disappointing 7-2 loss.

Early on in the third period, the Aeros extended their 3-2 lead to 4-2. After Rivermen goaltender Patrick Lalime made the initial save on a shot from the right point by Houston blueliner Erik Reitz, a long rebound found its way into the slot, where center Rem Murray pounced on the puck and shot it into the Peoria net before Lalime could recover. The goal came just 1:36 into the final period.

About midway through the third, Aeros center Erik Westrum banged the puck in at the right post to produce a 5-2 Aeros advantage. The goal came on the power play at the 8:53 mark of the third frame as winger Roman Voloshenko worked hard to poke the puck across the goalmouth to Westrum after receiving an unruly pass from the left point from winger Kirby Law.

Shortly thereafter, the Houston lead became 6-2 thanks to center Patrick O'Sullivan. Winger Matt Foy first collected the puck near the bottom of the left circle and sent a pass out to the high slot. There, O'Sullivan cranked a one-time slap shot at 11:17 of the third that powered past Lalime as he moved laterally to try to cover the net.

Having scored the first goal of the third period, Murray also notched the fourth and final goal of the last frame to produce the final score of 7-2. O'Sullivan and Murray made this goal look easy, as the former hit the latter in stride with a nice pass into the slot. Skating in unattended, Murray simply re-directed the puck into the goal at the 15:53 mark of the third.

The loss, Peoria's sixth consecutive setback, drops the overall record of the Rivermen to 15-12-0-1. The Rivermen are now also 6-6-0-0 away from home. For the Aeros, the victory pushes their overall record up to 21-8-1-1. At home in the Toyota Center, they are now 12-2-1-1.

Houston jumped out on top in this game. From along the right-wing boards in the Peoria zone, Aeros winger Matt Foy found O'Sullivan at the top of the crease. O'Sullivan, who had snuck in behind the Peoria defenders, took the pass on his forehand right in front of Lalime, then moved it to his backhand, and pitch-forked the puck up into the top of the net for a 1-0 Houston lead at 5:09 of the opening period.

Peoria got things going right out of the gate in the second period. Just 37 seconds after the opening face-off of the period, Rivermen defenseman Mike Mottau wired a long shot from the center point by the right shoulder of Aeros netminder Josh Harding during a Peoria power play. The shot came off of a pass out of the left corner by winger Jon DiSalvatore and tied the game at 1-1.

During a Houston power play, left wing Roman Voloshenko gave the Aeros a 2-1 lead with a nice tip-in goal. Skating toward the Rivermen net near the bottom of the left circle, Voloshenko got his stick on a shot from the left point by defenseman Curtis Murphy and re-directed the puck past Lalime at 2:52 of the second.

Once again, however, the Rivermen came back to even things up. This time, left wing D. J. King did the honors for Peoria, burying a quick shot from near the top right corner of the crease after receiving a pass from behind the goal line by right wing Mike Glumac. The tally tied the tilt at 2-2 at the 15:02 mark of the second period.

Houston took its third lead of the contest late in the middle frame. Entering the Peoria zone along the right-wing boards on a three-on-two break, Aeros center Bryan Lundbohm dished the puck to his left to winger Josh Olson. Olson then carried the puck a ways before using Rivermen defenseman Trevor Byrne as a screen in taking a wrong-foot snap shot from the top of the right circle. The puck darted over Lalime's left shoulder before he saw it to put Houston up 3-2 at 17:13 of the second.

The Rivermen return to action on Sunday at Carver Arena to entertain the Chicago Wolves beginning at 6:00 p.m.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2005


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