ECHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Fall Apart, Lose 3-2 at Home Against Johnstown

Published on January 16, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, Ill. (January, 16, 2004) – Leading 2-0, the Peoria Rivermen gave up three goals over the final 10:20, losing 3-2 to the rival Johnstown Chiefs in front of 4,684 on Friday night at Carver Arena.

It was the first time the Rivermen lost two or more in a row in regulation since October 31, when the Rivermen lost three in a row.

The Rivermen broke the scoreless tie at 2:08 of the third. Rivermen Captain Trevor Baker hammered Dominic Forget at center ice and carried the puck into the zone on right wing. Baker dropped it off to Randy Rowe at the bottom of the face-off circle, from where Rowe cut under a defenseman to the goal but was stopped by Johnstown goaltender David Currie. The rebound was picked up in the left face-off circle by Joe Vandermeer, who roofed his third goal of the season on a wicked wrist shot.

Peoria grabbed a short-lived 2-0 lead at 9:22 of the third. Malcolm MacMillan flipped the puck to Baker behind the Johnstown goal. Baker then found Ken Goetz in the high slot for a slap shot. Goetz was stopped on his initial shot but quickly fired his own rebound past an outstretched Currie from the right side of the slot. It was Goetz' first goal of the season.

Just 18 seconds later, the Chiefs got within one and netted the first of three unanswered tallies. Mather connected in close for his 13th tally of the season, catching Rivermen goaltender Mike Valley out of position. It was the first of two in the period by Mather.

The Chiefs tied it 2-2 at 13:42 of the final session. P.L. Courchesne wristed a shot toward the Peoria goal that Valley misplayed trying to catch it with his glove, allowing it into the goal. It was Courchesne's seventh goal of the season.

Mather connected for his 14th tally of the year, the eventual game winner, with just less than three minutes remaining. Peoria rookie defenseman George Halkidis lost the puck at the center redline, where Mather took over and broke in a breakaway to roof the puck over Valley at 17:04.

Peoria (21-10-7, 49 points) dropped to 8-7-3 at Carver Arena. Johnstown (21-14-3, 45 points) has won four in a row, equaling its longest winning streak of the season. The Chiefs improved to 8-11-1 on the road.

Valley stopped 25 of 28 shots in just his fourth regulation loss of the season (12-4-5). Currie turned away 44 of 46 for his sixth victory of the season and fourth in his last four starts.

It was scoreless after one period but Peoria had two goals called back. At 7:04, Adam Edinger looked to have scored after chopping the puck by Currie near the left post, but instead, the goal was disallowed and Edinger was assessed a slashing minor.

With just a few minutes remaining in the first period, the Rivermen had another goal disallowed. After a wild goal-mouth scramble, Baker – who was at the top of the goal crease – chipped the puck over Currie, who went down to make an initial save. The referee Nygel Pelletier, who was behind the goal, could not see that the puck was loose before Baker shot and blew the whistle, disallowing the goal.

With 1.6 seconds left in the second session, Darwin McPherson saw his first professional ice hockey shift in 10 years and could not get any of the Chiefs to tussle with him.

Tomorrow night – Saturday, January 17 – the Rivermen host rival Johnstown in the second of two in a row between the clubs. Game time is 8:05 p.m. at Carver Arena. It is Trevor Baker Bobblehead Night, sponsored by CEFCU. The first 3,000 fans will receive a bobblehead of the Rivermen Captain.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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ECHL Stories from January 16, 2004


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