AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen blank Rampage, 3-0

March 25, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, IL (March 24, 2006) - Before a home crowd of 5,956 fans at Carver Arena at the Peoria Civic Center on Friday evening, the Peoria Rivermen shut out the San Antonio Rampage by a count of 3-0. Peoria put forth a total team effort in achieving the shutout triumph, playing sound team defense and getting at least one point from eight of the 17 skaters who saw action in the contest. Rivermen center Gavin Morgan served as the scoring star of the night with one goal and one assist, but Peoria also got a goal from right wing Jon DiSalvatore, and defenseman Brendan Buckley, right wing Reed Low, centerman Ryan Ramsay, and center Mike Zigomanis each chipped in with one assist. Even the three newest members of the Rivermen, defenseman Tomas Mojzis; right wing David Backes; and goaltender Gregg Naumenko, made important contributions to the team's win on Friday.

After Mojzis was traded by the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL) to the Rivermen parent club St. Louis Blues on March 9, the NHL trade deadline for the 2005-06 season, the Blues loaned him to the Rivermen. Immigration issues prevented him from immediately joining the team, but he eventually arrived in Peoria the week of Monday, March 20. Then, in his first game action for the Rivermen on Friday night against San Antonio, the blueliner recorded the secondary assist on the third Rivermen goal and also registered a plus-one rating, one shot on goal, and two penalty minutes.

Backes signed a 25-game amateur tryout (ATO) contract with the Rivermen on Wednesday, March 15, after completing his junior season at Minnesota State University-Mankato. Like Mojzis, Backes also did not arrive in Peoria until the week of March 20. So his appearance for Peoria on Friday evening marked his debut game as a professional, and Backes made the evening quite memorable by notching his first professional goal to give the Rivermen a 3-0 lead.

Naumenko joined the Rivermen on Monday, March 13, when he signed an American Hockey League standard player contract. In his first start for Peoria on Friday, March 17, at Manchester, Naumenko played well and made 26 saves but suffered a 2-1 overtime loss. He then performed even better on Friday night versus San Antonio, turning aside all 20 shots on goal that he faced from the Rampage to earn his first shutout since the 2002-03 season.

Friday's 3-0 shutout win over San Antonio pushed Peoria's overall record up to 39-23-3-4 and inched the Rivermen closer to a berth in the 2005-06 Calder Cup Playoffs. At home in Carver Arena, the Rivermen are now 22-11-0-2. The San Antonio club, on the other hand, dropped to 21-41-2-4 overall and to 9-21-0-3 on the road.

The Rivermen broke through for the game's first goal early on in the second period. During a Peoria power play, Zigomanis sent the puck in on net, and Low was stationed there at the top right corner of the San Antonio crease to whack at it a few times as Rampage goaltender Karl Goehring tried to corral the puck. When the puck squirted loose toward the left post, Morgan skated in and banged the puck into the goal before Goehring could get across to challenge the shot. Morgan's 13th strike of the season gave the Rivermen a 1-0 lead just 2:07 into the middle frame.

Peoria leveraged another power-play chance to establish a 2-0 advantage in the third period. Soon after a draw in the right circle of the San Antonio zone, the puck came to DiSalvatore along the right-wing boards, and he carried it down into the right corner before opting to drive to the Rampage goal along the goalline. As he approached the right post, DiSalvatore stepped out in front and wrapped the puck around Goehring and into the goal before a San Antonio defender could arrive to hassle him. The power-play tally came at the 12:25 mark of the third frame and gave DiSalvatore 19 goals on the year.

With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, the Rivermen got an insurance goal to go up 3-0 on the Rampage. Taking a nice lead-pass from Buckley down the right side of the neutral zone, Backes skated in alone on Goehring. When he reached the right hash marks, Backes wound up and wired a shot into the upper right corner of the net for an impressive first professional goal at 17:54 of the third.

Up next for the Rivermen is a date on Saturday evening in Omaha with the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights. The two West Division foes will face off at the Omaha Civic Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. (CST) on Saturday.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 25, 2006


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