ECHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Come Back to Alaska 5-4 in Overtime at Home

February 18, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, Ill. - The Peoria Rivermen took their only lead of the night on Friday when it mattered - in overtime - as they beat the Alaska Aces 5-4 in front of 4,636 at Carver Arena.

At 2:11 of the overtime, Igor Valeev stole the puck at center ice from an Alaska defenseman and broke into the Alaska zone on right wing on a two-on-one with Randy Rowe. Valeev chose to keep the puck, faking a pass to Rowe and freezing Alaska goaltender Peter Aubry before snapping it inside the left goal post for his fourth tally of the season.

The Rivermen tied the game for the second time, making it 4-4 with 5:41 left in regulation. Ed Hill, stationed between the right point and the face-off circle along the boards, wristed a shot through traffic that cleanly beat Aubry. It was Hill's third goal of the year.

Peoria (23-17-6, 52 points) improved to 2-2 in overtime decisions and 2-0-1 through three games of a Peoria professional hockey record 11 straight home games. With one penalty kill in the game, the Rivermen extended their franchise-record consecutive penalty kill streak to 64, two shy of the Mississippi Sea Wolves ECHL record of 66 in 2000-2001. Alaska (29-15-5, 63 points) had its three-game winning streak snapped but remains unbeaten in regulation in its last four games (3-0-1). The Aces are 10-2-1 in their last 13 games.

Rivermen goaltender Alfie Michaud (16-8-3) stopped 20 of 24 shots in regulation and overtime for the win. Aubry (18-9-5) turned away 32 of 37 in regulation and overtime in the loss.

NHLer and New Jersey Devil Scott Gomez did something he's not used to doing to get the scoring started by netting his eighth tally of the season at 6:58 of the first period. The sequence began when Michaud made a sliding, stack-the-pads save at the right post on Charles Linglet. Gomez then caught up with the puck along the left-wing boards at the face-off circle and wristed it off the skate of Michaud and inside the left post.

For Gomez, the ECHL leader in assists coming into the game with 49, it was his first goal in seven games and just his third in the last 18 contests.

Alaska took a 2-0 lead on a marker from another unlikely goal-scorer four and a half minutes later. Defenseman Keith McCambridge, who came off the 30-day injured reserve list this week, jumped to the top of the goal crease all alone to collect a Vladimir Novak rebound and rip it past Michaud. It was just McCambridge's third goal of the year, coming at 10:29.

Peoria got on the board with 6:30 remaining in the first. After Rivermen Captain Trevor Baker was stopped on a snap shot from the slot, he collected his own rebound in the right face-off circle and rifled the puck into the upper right corner. It was Baker's 10th tally of the season.

Just 33 seconds into the middle stanza, the Aces gave themselves their two-goal lead back. Novak, below the end red line between the goal and the right-wing corner, fed Joe Talbot, who darted to the front of the net all alone off the right-wing boards for an easy backhand goal inside the left post. It was his 17th tally of the season.

Less than two minutes later, Peoria got back within one from the night's third unlikely scorer, making it 3-2. Rookie defenseman Aaron Forsythe stepped from the left point to the top of the face-off circle, wristing a screen shot into the upper right corner for his second goal of the year.

The Rivermen tied it for the first time at 10:25 of the second. Baker, darting down the right side of the zone, found Brian McCullough cutting into the low slot from the left face-off circle. McCullough, after accepting the pass on his forehand, took it on his backhand and slipped it underneath a diving Aubry. It was McCullough's team-leading 22nd goal of the year.

Alaska finished the period with the lead on Talbot's second marker of the session with 4:08 remaining. Talbot circled to the left side of the high slot and wristed his 18th goal inside the left post.

The Rivermen host NHLer Scott Gomez and the Alaska Aces again tomorrow night, Saturday, February 19, in the second of two in a row between the clubs. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Carver Arena.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 18, 2005


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