AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Edged at Home 3-2 by Grand Rapids

Published on December 22, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, IL (December 22, 2006) - The Peoria Rivermen were nipped 3-2 by the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night in front of 3,653 at Carver Arena, dropping their first game of the year in three meetings between the clubs.

The Griffins (13-14-3-2, 31 pts) struck first with 3:38 remaining in the opening period. With Peoria stuck in its own end, Grand Rapids center Jeff Campbell took a drop pass from center Eric Himelfarb in the high slot and ripped a wrist shot off the right goal post that deflected off the back of Rivermen netminder Marek Schwarz and into the back of the net. It was Campbell's first goal in 16 games and just his second in 38 career AHL games.

Peoria (15-10-1-2, 33 pts) responded early in the second period on the power play, tying the game 1-1. Defenseman Jeff Woywitka sent a hard dump-in around the boards from the left wing that the right wing Mike Glumac picked up at the bottom of the right face-off circle. Glumac quickly fed the puck to left wing-turned-center Peter Sejna, who dashed to the right hash marks and snapped it between the legs of Grand Rapids goaltender Stefan Liv. The goal extended Sejna's point streak to four games with seven points (4g, 3a).

Grand Rapids took its second lead of the game at 8:56 of the third frame and it would be one they would not relinquish. Peoria got caught deep in the Griffins zone in the left-wing corner, allowing Grand Rapids to head up the opposite side of the ice on a two-on-one break. Defenseman Derek Meech then sent right wing Ryan Keller in on a breakaway, as he zoomed down the left side of the slot and snapped the puck into the upper-right corner for his fifth marker of the season.

The Griffins pushed their lead to 3-1 at 15:47 of the third. Center Matt Hussey darted to the bottom of the left face-off circle and wristed his sixth goal of the year into the upper-right corner past Schwarz. Campbell set up the goal for his second point of the contest and his first two-point game of the year.

The Rivermen made it interesting with 1:29 remaining in the game on the power play and with their goaltender pulled. Glumac corralled a Sejna rebound just off the right post and slammed his eighth marker of the season past Liv.

The Rivermen fell to 10-5-0-0 at home and will now open up a stretch of five games in six days, beginning with Tuesday, December 26's 6:00 p.m. tilt with the Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from December 22, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central