ECHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Edged 5-4 in a Shootout in Dayton

December 11, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Dayton, Oh. (December 11, 2003) – The Peoria Rivermen surrendered three one-goal leads in a seesaw affair on Thursday night, falling 5-4 in a shootout at the hands of the archrival Dayton Bombers before a crowd of 1,893 at the Nutter Center.

There was no scoring in overtime, as the Rivermen entered a shootout for the third time in the last five games.

Peoria's Adam Edinger and Dayton's Jason Deskins exchanged shootout goals in the first round. After Alex Kim hit a goal post for the Rivermen in the second round, the Bombers' Jamie O'Leary converted what would be the eventual game winner. Tyler Rennette and Brendan Brooks both missed in third and fourth rounds for Peoria, as Janne Jokila made it three straight shootout tallies for Dayton in the third round.

Peoria (10-6-5, 25 points) earned one point for the shootout loss and remains unbeaten in regulation in its last eight road games (5-0-3). The Rivermen moved into a tie for fifth place in the Northern Division with the Cincinnati Cyclones (12-11-1). Dayton (8-10-2, 18 points) moved within two games of the .500 mark and is now just two points back of the eighth-place Toledo Storm (9-9-2). The Bombers have won five of their last six games and are unbeaten in regulation over that stretch (5-0-1).

The Rivermen fell to 1-2 in shootouts on the season, while the Bombers claimed victory in their first opportunity of the year.

Peoria's Mike Valley turned away 17 of 21 in regulation and overtime and did not stop a shot in three opportunities in the shootout to fall to 6-1-3 on the season. Dayton's Andrew Penner stopped 38 of 42 in regulation and overtime and three of four in the shootout for his fourth win of the season (4-4-0).

The Rivermen finally pulled themselves out of their power play funk, taking a 1-0 lead at 6:45 of the opening period on their second man advantage opportunity of the game. Defenseman Scott Crawford was denied on a shot from the right face-off circle. The rebound popped in front to Igor Valeev, who sent a shot toward the Dayton goal that Adam Edinger tipped in from the doorstep to collect his fourth goal in a Rivermen uniform and seventh of the season.

Peoria, who entered the night ranked 30th in the ECHL with the man advantage in front of only Dayton, was just 1-for-36 on the power play over its last nine games.

The only Rivermen power play tally scored during the stretch was against the Bombers on Thanksgiving in a 3-0 home shutout. The streak started on December 16 in Dayton. After the Rivermen had gone 2-for-2 on the power play in the game, they were scoreless in their last opportunity of the night, beginning their dismal stretch.

Valeev, who was reassigned to the Rivermen for conditioning purposes from the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate – the Worcester IceCats – with defensemen Brett Scheffelmaier yesterday, made his season debut in the game. Valeev opened the year on injured reserve.

Captain Trevor Baker fought Dayton defenseman Alex Johnstone to a draw early in the first. Scheffelmaier then took on Dayton left wing Riley Cote at 7:19 of the first with Scheffelmaier taking the decision on a few big rights.

The Bombers tied it 1-1 on their first power play chance of the game at 9:18. After several acrobatic saves by Valley, the puck was loose just off the left post, and O'Leary pounced on it and flipped in his fifth of the season.

Dayton gave itself a 2-1 lead at 12:51 of the first. After a mix-up along the right wing boards, an errant Rivermen clearing attempt made its way to the top of the left circle, where Johnstone hammered in his third goal of the season.

The Rivermen tied it 2-2 with 1:30 left in the opening session. Edinger held the puck in at the right point and chipped it ahead to Kim, who swooped in from the face-off circle and sent a quick wrist shot by Penner.

The Rivermen took a 3-2 with 8:28 left in the second period. Defenseman George Halkidis held the puck in at the left point and sent a pass ahead to Bret DeCecco, who fired a shot toward the Dayton net from the face-off circle. The shot was stopped by Penner, and the rebound came to Baker, who was stopped in front. That rebound popped out to the right face-off circle, where DeCecco chased it down and fired in his fourth of the season.

Dayton wasted no time tying it 3-3 early in the third period with the man advantage. Olivier Proulx tipped a Jason Crain shot from the left point past Valley for his third of the season at :58.

Peoria answered with its second power play goal of the contest and its third lead of the night at 11:17 of the third. Left wing Randy Rowe fired a shot from the right face-off circle that went just wide on the near side. The rebound caromed off the endboards, hitting Penner in the back of the skate and making its way into the goal.

The Rivermen finished the game 2-for-9 on the power play, while Dayton was 2-for-8.

The Bombers evened it up for a third time with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. Proulx found a streaking Jokila, who maneuvered the puck into Peoria zone on left wing. Valley came out to meet Jokila and cut the angle down, but Jokila threaded the needle with a wicked shot that made its way over Valley's shoulder into the upper right corner.

The Rivermen host the rival Johnstown Chiefs tomorrow night – Friday, December 12 – at Carver Arena at 7:05 p.m. It is Coca-Cola Finally Friday. Fans will receive a 2-for-1 Upper Bowl ticket offer by presenting a Vanilla Coke or Cherry Coke can at the Carver Arena Box Office. It is also the U.S. Marine Corps' "Toys for Tots" Holiday Drive. Fans are encouraged to bring a new toy for charity. The Rivermen will be wearing special Christmas Jerseys to be auctioned off after the game.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 11, 2003


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