AHL San Antonio Rampage

Rampage Take Point from Peoria in 4-3 Shootout Loss

Published on February 15, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Antonio Rampage News Release


PEORIA, Ill. - The San Antonio Rampage scored two goals in the third period to take a point away from the Peoria Rivermen in a 4-3 shootout loss Friday night at Carver Arena.

With the game marking Greg Ireland's 600th as a professional head coach, and also being a hotly contested battle for third place in the American Hockey League's West Division, the Rampage displayed resiliency - most notably forward Chris Durno.

Durno tied things, 2-2, with a relentless attack 5:03 into the third period. Durno was pushed over in front of the Peoria net on his initial shot attempt, but kept banging away at the puck from his knees for the eventual game-tying marker. The goal was his second of the night, both of which evened the score. He ranks second on the team with 17 goals this season, and eight of his last nine have either tied or won the game for the Rampage.

Matt Murley tallied the go-ahead goal less than five minutes later for the Rampage. He secured the puck immediately following a faceoff and blasted a shot by Peoria netminder Hannu Toivonen for the 3-2 lead at 9:58. Murley registered three points (one goal, two assists) in his first game back from the parent Phoenix Coyotes.

Micki DuPont potted the equalizer with 6:27 remaining, eventually leading to overtime, where it appeared the Rampage had won the game.

Brendan Bell fired a shot with 28 seconds left that got by Toivonen, but Peoria defenseman Alex Brooks dove and illegally covered the puck with his glove before it could slide through. His infraction resulted in the third penalty shot of the road trip for the Rampage, which could be attempted by any player. Bell used his patented move, deking right and going five-hole, but was stoned by Toivonen to force a shootout.

Nikolay Lemtyugov, who scored Peoria's second goal of the night, found the net on the Rivermen's second shootout attempt. The Rampage didn't score in the shootout until Bell's turn came, where he used the same move to beat Toivonen as the fifth and final shooter. Julian Talbot netted Peoria's fifth attempt to clip the Rampage 2-1 during the shootout.

Peoria (29-19-4-4, 66 points) gained a one-point advantage over San Antonio (28-15-3-6) in the standings with the win, but the Rampage have played four fewer games. Peoria also ended a seven-game winless streak.

Josh Tordjman made 35 saves on 38 chances for the Rampage. He has 30-plus saves in three straight starts, and 35 in consecutive games, after making the same amount Saturday at Rochester in a 3-2 shootout loss. Tordjman has not lost in regulation in six straight starts (4-0-0-2), and 10 of 11 dating back to Dec. 29 (8-1-0-2). The Rampage have earned points in 10 of 20 games in which they trailed after two periods and the two third-period goals pushed their league-leading total to 67.

Peoria got on the board first with a shot from Charles Linglet that rolled up Josh Tordjman and into the net at 16:55 of the first period.

Durno netted his 16th goal of the season early in the second period. He skated through the slot and blasted a shot top shelf, evening the score, 1-1, just 62 seconds into the middle 20 minutes.

Lemtyugov reclaimed the lead for Peoria with a goal 6:28 into the second period.

The Rampage have earned points in 15 of their last 19 overall (11-4-1-3), and 17 of their last 23 road games. They are 6-2-1-2 through the first 11 of their 14-game Rodeo road trip and will face off with Quad City at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night in Illinois.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 15, 2008


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