AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Beat Griffins 7-4

Published on December 2, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, IL - On the strength of six power-play goals, the Peoria Rivermen defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night at Carver Arena by a score of 7-4. Wingers Peter Sejna and Mike Glumac led the offensive charge for the Rivermen with one goal and three assists each. Right wing Jon DiSalvatore (two goals, one assist) and center Jay McClement (one goal, two assists) each contributed three points to Peoria's onslaught.

The difference in this contest turned out to be power-play efficiency, as the Rivermen and the Griffins had a combined 22 man-advantage opportunities on the night. Although Peoria had only nine power plays in the game compared to the 13 opportunities that Grand Rapids had, the Rivermen claimed victory in this tilt because they converted their power-play chances much more successfully than did the Griffins. During their 13 power plays, the Griffins scored only two goals. The Rivermen, in contrast, notched six goals in their nine chances on the power play.

The win by Peoria gets the squad back on the winning track after two straight losses immediately prior to this tilt. Overall, the Rivermen are now 12-6-0-1, with a record of 8-4-0-1 at home. Grand Rapids now stands at 16-5-0-2 so far this season. On the road, the team drops to 9-4-0-0.

About five minutes into this contest, Peoria took a 1-0 lead. Skating into the Grand Rapids zone, Peoria winger Mike Glumac shot the puck down the right-wing boards from the right point. An apparent dump-in, the puck caromed into the slot, where center Jay McClement one-timed it by the stick of Griffins netminder Joey MacDonald at 5:05.

Right wing Jon DiSalvatore staked the Rivermen to a two-goal lead with a power-play tally just before the first intermission. Winger Colin Hemingway started the play by firing a shot from the left face-off dot. After center Trent Whitfield banged at a rebound, DiSalvatore poked the puck under MacDonald at the left post for a 2-0 Rivermen advantage with just 14 seconds remaining in the first period.

The Griffins got a goal back in the second period when Grand Rapids center Matt Ellis unleashed a shot from within the right circle. A rebound of the drive dribbled to Bacashihua's right, where winger Ryan Oulahen flicked it up into the goal to pare the Peoria lead to 2-1 at 6:23 of the second.

About three minutes later, Peoria's DiSalvatore struck for his second power-play goal of the evening. Glumac initiated the play by shooting from the right point. DiSalvatore then banged at the puck from in close, popping it up into the air. With a baseball swing, he batted the puck into the net to make the game 3-1 in favor of the Rivermen at the 9:09 mark of the second frame.

The Rivermen expanded their lead to 4-1 at 14:32 in the second. Positioned in the right corner during a Peoria power play, left wing Peter Sejna sent a pass to Glumac at the top of the crease. Controlling the pass with his left skate, Glumac quickly stuffed the puck by MacDonald.

Very early in the third period, the Rivermen got a power-play goal from defenseman Andy Roach to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Off of a DiSalvatore shot from the left sideboards, a long rebound went into the right circle for a one-timer from the right face-off dot by Roach just 59 seconds into the third.

Left wing Jiri Hudler recorded the first power-play goal for the Griffins at 3:07 of the third frame. Accepting a rink-wide pass from defenseman Nick Martens, Hudler powered a long shot from the top of the right circle past Bacashihua to the stick side to render the score 5-2 for Peoria.

Three goals then came in rapid-fire succession. At the 8:28 mark of the third, Rivermen center Trent Whitfield got his stick on a shot from the right point to post a power-play goal for Peoria.

Sejna followed that with another power-play marker for Peoria at 9:02, burying a one-timer as he streaked down the right side of the slot.

At 9:29 of the third frame, Oulahen recorded his second goal of the evening for Grand Rapids, quickly snapping in a shot as he skated in from the right circle. The three-goal flurry left the scoreboard reading 7-3 in favor of Peoria.

The game's final goal came on the power play for Grand Rapids, as center Matt Ellis sent a shot from the top of the right circle into the top part of the Rivermen net. The lamp-lighter at 16:48 of the third produced the final score of 7-4.

The Rivermen next travel to Des Moines to tangle with the Iowa Stars on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 2, 2005


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