AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Double Up Grand Rapids 4-2 at Home

Published on December 16, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, IL (December 17, 2006) - The Peoria Rivermen and the Grand Rapids Griffins traded goals in the first two periods, but the Rivermen were able to tally two in the final frame to snap their season-worst, three-game losing streak by defeating Grand Rapids 4-2 on Saturday night in front of 3,791 at Carver Arena.

The Rivermen (14-9-1-2, 31 pts) registered the first tally of the night on the man-advantage at 8:23 of the opening period. Defenseman Tomas Mojzis blasted a slap shot from the left point that was redirected by right wing David Backes but was stopped by Griffins goaltender Stephan Liv. The rebound trickled to the right of the crease, where center Trent Whitfield was able to swat the puck through the legs of Liv for his 12th marker of the year. Whitfield leads the Rivermen in points with 22, even though the goal was his first point in four games.

Grand Rapids (12-13-2-2, 28 pts) responded with a power play goal of its own a little more than two minutes later at 10:26 of the first session. From the left-wing boards, center Kip Miller fired a pass to the deep slot for defenseman Jonathon Ericsson, who launched a one-timer that clanked off the right post and in past Peoria netminder Marek Schwarz. The goal was Ericsson's third of the season.

Peoria regained the lead on left wing Charles Linglet's team-leading 14th goal of the 2006-07 campaign, coming at 13:59 of the first frame. Left wing Peter Sejna sent a beautiful pass between two Griffins defenders ahead to Linglet as he crossed the Grand Rapids blue line for a breakaway opportunity; he skated one-on-one with Liv. At the slot, Linglet deked right then flicked the puck above the blocker of Liv.

The Griffins tied the score at two on right wing Scott Barney's second marker of the year at 3:29 of the second stanza. Center Jeff Campbell skated around the net from right to left and dumped the puck off to Barney at the left side of the crease, where he took a couple of whacks at it and somehow sneaked it underneath Schwarz.

The Rivermen grabbed their third lead of the game on right wing Mike Glumac's seventh goal of the season. While on a 3-on-2 opportunity, Linglet sent a pass from the right face-off circle to a streaking Sejna in the right slot. Sejna's tipped shot was stopped by Liv, and as Sejna tried to stop, he accidentally bumped into the Griffins goalie. The puck kicked out to Glumac in the slot, where he buried a shot into the top right corner of the net.

Peoria capped off the scoring as right wing Jon DiSalvatore stole the puck at the Griffins blue line and flung it into the empty net for his sixth goal of the year at 19:56 of the final period.

The Rivermen improved to 9-4-0-0 at home and finish their three-home-game weekend set with their second match-up against Iowa in three days. Game time is 4:00 p.m. Following the contest is a post-game skate with the Rivermen. Fans should make sure to bring their skates to the game in order to participate.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 16, 2006


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