AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Fall in Iowa 4-3 in a Shootout

March 27, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Des Moines , IA. (March 27, 2007) - Despite being up by one goal late in the third, the Peoria Rivermen allowed a power play tally to send the contest into extra time before falling to the Iowa Stars 4-3 in a shootout in front of 3,289 at the Wells Fargo Arena.

The Stars (37-30-3-1, 78 pts) notched the tying goal at 18:53 of the last session while on the power play and with their goalie Dan Ellis pulled. From the deep slot, defenseman Mark Ardelan flipped a backhander to right wing Konstantin Pushkarev, who was at the right face-off dot and chipped a shot over the glove hand of Rivermen netminder Chris Beckford-Tseu for his sixth marker of the year.

Despite being outshot 9-4 in the overtime period and enduring a two-minute penalty, the Rivermen (34-28-2-6, 76 pts) held Iowa off of the scoreboard to send the game into a shootout.

Both teams registered one goal each after the first five rounds of the shootout; finally in the eighth round, right wing Vojtech Polak scored the game-winner with a backhanded flip over the left leg of Beckford-Tseu. The loss held the Rivermen in fifth place, two points behind the Stars with one game in hand.

Iowa had the best opportunity to tally a goal in the first frame with an uninterrupted minute with a two-man advantage, but the penalty-killing unit of the Rivermen was up to the challenge, keeping the Stars off the board.

The pace of the game picked up in the second stanza, as the Stars registered the first goal of the tilt just 36 seconds into the period. From the right face-off dot, Polak dished the puck into the right corner for left wing Francis Wathier, who hurried toward the net and jammed the puck between the legs of Beckford-Tseu for his 10 th tally of the year.

Peoria evened the contest three minutes later on right wing Ryan MacMurchy's second goal of the season. Center Ryan Ramsay slid a pass from the right point to MacMurchy stationed deep in the slot, where he whipped a shot on net just before being leveled to the ice that flew over the right shoulder of Ellis.

Iowa regained the lead at 2:50 of the final session on right wing Scott May's fourth marker of the 2006-07 campaign. Following a blocked shot, the Rivermen were unable to clear the puck from the zone, as it slid to center point May had already wound-up and blasted a shot through traffic in the slot and over the right shoulder of Beckford-Tseu.

Just 13 seconds later, the Rivermen tied the game 2-2 with a goal mirroring the Stars' previous tally. An Iowa defenseman attempted to swat the puck out of the zone from the slot, but Rivermen defenseman Steve Wagner intercepted it in the high slot, where he sent a laser through a screen by center Trent Whitfield past Ellis. It was the first professional goal by Wagner, who had signed an amateur try-out contract with the Rivermen on March 23.

Peoria grabbed its first lead of the contest with a power play goal at 9:53 of the third period. Defenseman Jamie Rivers fired a beautiful pass that split two Iowa defenders at the blue line to Whitfield, who was one-on-one with Ellis. Streaking through the slot, Whitfield deked a couple of times then slid a backhanded shot between the legs of Ellis, tying left wing Charles Linglet for first on the team in goals with 29.

The Rivermen, who fell to 14-15-1-4 on the road this season, will play in Texas for three games in three nights over the weekend beginning in Houston on Friday, March 30. Game time is 7:35 p.m.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2007


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