AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Complete Comeback Over Griffins

November 8, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, IL - The Peoria Rivermen scored the final four goals of the game to beat the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-3 in front of 4,190 fans at Carver Arena on Saturday night. The Rivermen out-shot the Griffins 25-8 over the final two periods and 36-17 overall.

Peoria had to fight back from two separate two-goal deficits to defeat Grand Rapids in their first meeting of the year. Julian Talbot tied the game at 3-3 with just 32 seconds remaining in the second period and Tyson Strachan scored the game winner with 8:02 left in regulation.

Penalties put the Rivs in an early hole as Grand Rapids scored two power-play goals within a span of 43 seconds in the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead. With Strachan already in the box, Jakub Kindl scored on a delayed penalty at 6:45 of the first period on a shot from the point. Ryan Reaves took Strachan's place in the box following the goal and Evan McGrath wristed one past Marek Schwarz at 7:28.

Reaves would put his name in the goal column at 13:11 of the first period after burying a pretty feed from Cam Paddock. In on a 2-on-1, Paddock fed the puck between a defender's legs and right onto the stick blade of Reaves who had cut behind the defense. He then beat Jimmy Howard with a move to the forehand for his second goal of the year.

Despite the Rivermen dominating nearly the entire second period, the Griffins scored first to build their lead back to two. With Peoria on the power play, Justin Abdelkader cleared the puck out of his own end and sent Ryan Oulahen after it near center ice. Jeff Woywitka, at the end of a long shift, was only able to trip up Oulahen as he went in on a breakaway and Grand Rapids was awarded a penalty shot. Oulahen beat Schwarz with a head-fake and scored his fourth of the year.

With time ticking down in the second period the Rivermen began to mount their comeback. Just inside the final four minutes of the period, Reaves tried to rush the puck towards the net and had his feet knocked out from under him. He slammed hard into Howard who needed attention from the trainer before getting up. The goaltender took a few minutes to compose himself but remained in the game only to have the Rivermen score twice before the end of the period. He was replaced by Daniel Larsson to begin the third.

Chris Conner accepted a pass from Tyson Strachan between the Griffins defenders and split in on a breakaway against Howard. With a backhand shot that deflected off the netminder, Conner picked up his fifth goal of the season at 17:38.

Then at 19:28, a scramble in front of the net created a loose puck for Talbot at the side of the goal and he tied the game. Steve Regier and Jonas Junland earned assists for keeping the play alive as Howard, and the rest of his team, desperately tried to cover the puck. It was a power-play goal for Peoria who finished 1-for-5 on the night.

The game winner came at 11:58 of the third on Stachan's first of the year. With Winchester parked in front as a screen, Strachan's shot from the right point found its way through the maze and the legs of Larsson. Andy Wozniewski assisted on the play, his second of two assists on the night.

Junland added a shorthanded empty-netter with 9.9 seconds to play with a shot from just inside his own blue line. It was his second goal in the last two games.

Schwarz had to make just 14 saves to pick up his third win of the season. Howard made 25 saves before Larsson came in and stopped six shots and suffered the loss.

With the win, Peoria improved to 6-1-1 at Carver Arena this season and have more home points (13) than any other team in the league. Hartford (6-3-0) is the only other team with six wins at home. The Rivermen are 7-4-1 overall and are in sole possession of second place in the West Division, trailing only Chicago by three points.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2008


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