Rivermen Close Out 2010 With 3-1 Win
Published on December 31, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
The Peoria Rivermen ended 2010 with a bang Friday night, notching a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals. On the final night before the New Year, Peoria capitalized on a couple of key power plays to propel themselves past Milwaukee in front of 7,090 fans at Carver Arena.
Nathan Oystrick started the scoring early with a power-play goal at 5:13 of the first period. After a Milwaukee tripping penalty, Nikita Nikitin threw a pass to Oystrick from the right circle. Oystrick then beat Admirals' goaltender Mark Dekanich on a slapshot from the point for his fifth power-play goal of the season.
The Rivermen went into the first intermission leading 1-0, despite being outshot 11-2 in the opening 20 minutes.
As the second period began, Peoria started to build on their lead. Nick Drazenovic put the Rivermen up 2-0 at 3:56 of the second period with Peoria's second power-play goal of the game. Following a Milwaukee hooking penalty, T.J. Hensick weaved through traffic and wristed a shot on goal. Dekanich was never able to control the loose puck as it was knocked around in the crease by Graham Mink until Drazenovic pushed it home.
Less than 2 minutes later, Anthony Pelsuo gave Peoria a 3-0 lead at the 5:17 mark of the second period with his fourth goal of the season. Peluso picked a puck in the slot and made a nifty forehand, backhand, forehand move around the Admirals' goaltender. Tyler Shattock and Andrew Carroll notched the assists. For Carroll, it was his first point with Peoria.
After stopping just nine of 12 shots, Milwaukee decided to pull Dekanich for the remainder of the game as the third period began. The Admirals' sent Jeremy Smith into the net for the final 20 minutes.
Milwaukee avoided being shutout for the second time this season as Ryan Thang scored at 15:12 of the third period for his fourth goal, and the final tally of the game. Following a Rivermen turnover in their defensive zone, Thang grabbed the loose puck and beat Rivermen goaltender Jake Allen near-post on a forehand shot. Mark Santorelli and Grant Lewis assisted on the goal.
A late penalty by Peoria's Brennan Evans late in the game forced the Rivermen to grind the last minute of the contest out with Milwaukee on a power-play. Allen stopped several late shots to seal his 12th victory of the season.
Allen finished with 21 saves and improved his record to 12-2-1-0. Dekanich recorded the loss while Smith ended the game stopping all 10 shots he faced.
The Rivermen are now 3-2-0 when playing on New Year's Eve and 2-0-1-1 against Milwaukee this season. It was Peoria's first win on New Year's Eve since the 2006-07 season.
Peoria will celebrate the New Year with a 6 p.m. start against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena. The game can be heard locally on 96.5 ESPN Radio Peoria and online through www.rivermen.net.
American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2010
- Stars stay hot - Texas Stars
- Heat shut out by Stars - Abbotsford Heat
- Rampage Fall to Barons 4-1 - San Antonio Rampage
- Rivermen Close Out 2010 With 3-1 Win - Peoria Rivermen
- Monarchs Finish Off Year With Fireworks - Manchester Monarchs
- Griffins Close Out 2010 With Wild Shootout Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Admirals Drop Final Game of 2010 - Milwaukee Admirals
- P-Bruins Fall To Monarchs 7-3 - Providence Bruins
- Whale get past Pirates in OT - Connecticut Whale
- Déjà vu All Over Again as Whale Sink Pirates - Portland Pirates
- Vasyunov Paces Devils To Victory - Albany Devils
- Déjà vu All Over Again as Whale Sink Pirates - Portland Pirates
- Moose End 2010 with 4-1 Win over Chicago - Manitoba Moose
- Crunch Bite Bears, End 2010 with 4-2 win at Hershey - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolves Kept Down By Moose, 4-1 - Chicago Wolves
- Falcons earn another point on the road - Springfield Falcons
- Closing Out 2010 in Style! - Adirondack Phantoms
- Players recalled on an emergency basis - Charlotte Checkers
- Anaheim Acquires Center Maxim Lapierre from Montreal - Syracuse Crunch
- Omark assigned to Oklahoma City; Belle recalled by Edmonton - Rockford IceHogs
- Back-to-back one-goal wins give Sound Tigers sweep of home-and-home series - Bridgeport Islanders
- Pirates Sign Bowers to PTO - Portland Pirates
- Tatar Recalled by Red Wings - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Canucks re-assign Ryan Parent to Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Falcons Conclude 2010 in Glens Falls - Springfield Falcons
- Falcons Conclude 2010 in Glens Falls - Springfield Falcons
- Anaheim Acquires Center Maxim Lapierre from Montreal in Exchange for Defenseman Brett Festerling and - Syracuse Crunch
- Griffins Host Hamilton Bulldogs for Winning Wednesday - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Omark Assigned to Oklahoma City; Belle Recalled by Edmonton - Oklahoma City Barons
- Sound Tigers Down Sharks 3-2 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Sound Tigers See-Saw Past Sharks 3-2 - Worcester Sharks
- Pirates Sign Bowers to PTO - Portland Pirates
- Tatar Recalled by Red Wings - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Coyotes Assign Maclean to San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- Canucks Re-Assign Ryan Parent to Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Falcons Conclude 2010 in Glens Falls - Springfield Falcons
- Sound Tigers Return Sellitto, Sign Blight - Bridgeport Islanders
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Phantoms Recall Defenseman Cullen Eddy - Adirondack Phantoms
- Canadiens Recall David Desharnais from Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Fraser and Berube Arrive in Albany - Albany Devils
- Senators Recall Forward Jim O'Brien from Binghamton - Binghamton Senators
- P-Bruins, Royals Flip Defensemen - Providence Bruins
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