AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Fall at Home to Chicago 6-3

Published on December 29, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, IL (December 29, 2006) - The Peoria Rivermen and their home struggles against the Chicago Wolves continued for the third consecutive game, as the Rivermen fell 6-3 to the Wolves in front of 4,085 on Friday night at Carver Arena.

The Rivermen have lost by scores of 5-0 (October 7), 10-5 (November 4) and 6-3 for a combined total of 21-8.

The Wolves (25-7-1-2, 53 pts), who extended their point streak to nine games (7-0-0-2) with 16 out of 18 possible points, recorded the first marker of the game on the power play at 12:53 of the opening period. Right wing Darren Haydar, who extended his AHL-record point streak to 35 games, dished the puck from the top of the left face-off circle to the center point for defenseman Mark Popovic, who wound up and launched a slap shot between the left post and right arm of Rivermen goaltender Marek Schwarz. The goal was Popovic's fourth of the season.

Chicago notched another man-advantage tally on a rare 4-on-3 opportunity at 18:37 of the first frame. Popovic held the kept the puck in the Rivermen zone at center point and fed Haydar, who was in the left face-off circle and wristed a shot above the right shoulder of Schwarz, clanking it off the bottom of the crossbar and in for his 21st marker of the year.

The Wolves and Haydar did not slow down after the first intermission, as they scored again at 1:25 of the second stanza. Left wing Brett Sterling broke in along to the right face-off circle, dropped the puck off to Haydar, who faked a shot that sent a Rivermen defenseman to the ice and then lifted a shot into the top left corner of the net. The goal was Haydar's second of the game and 22nd of the season. It was the last shot Schwarz saw, as he was pulled in favor of Chris Beckford-Tseu.

Unfortunately, the change of goalies could not slow down Chicago right away as it made the game 4-0 at 5:01 of the second. From the top of the right face-off circle, defenseman Jimmy Sharrow fired a pass to the left point for defenseman Nathan Oystrick, who blasted a shot into the top right corner of the net for his ninth tally of the 2006-07 campaign.

The Rivermen (16-12-1-2, 35 pts) were able to get on board at 17:14 of the middle period, making 4-1. Defenseman Stephen Wood fired a shot from the left face-off dot that went off the glove of Wolves netminder Michael Garnett and landed at the top of the goal crease, where left wing Michal Birner was able to tap home for his third marker of the season.

The Wolves regained a four-goal advantage with their third power play goal of the contest at 2:33 of the final frame. Defenseman Brian Fahey gathered the puck at the top of the left face-off circle and snapped a shot through traffic that snuck between the left post and Beckford-Tseu's right arm for his fifth marker of the season.

Peoria made it 5-2 on left wing Peter Sejna's 10th tally of the year at 7:06 of the last period. Center Trent Whitfield attempted to slam the puck past Garnett several times from point-blank range. Finally, Whitfield was able to jam it behind a sprawled Garnett but not yet across the line. Sejna skated in from the left face-off circle and pushed the puck home, which gave him a season-high mark of seven straight games with at least a point.

Chicago added another goal at 15:22 of the third. Larose wristed a shot from the right face-off circle that was stopped by Beckford-Tseu and the puck rested in the slot. A Rivermen defenseman whiffed on a clearing attempt to allow Sterling to skate in and send a backhand over Beckford-Tseu for his AHL-leading 34th goal of the year.

The Rivermen notched a final goal on the man-advantage at 16:27 of the third. From the bottom of the right face-off circle, Sejna sent a pass to the goal mouth where Whitfield redirected the puck through the legs of Garnett for his 15th marker of the 2006-07 campaign. Sejna extended his point streak to a team, season-high seven games with 13 points.

The Rivermen fell to 10-7-0-0 at home and continue with their five games in six days stretch as they travel west to face-off against the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights on Saturday, December 29. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2006


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