AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Fall in San Antonio 7-5

Published on March 9, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


San Antonio . (March 9, 2007) - For those who enjoy offense and lots of it, this game was for you, as the Peoria Rivermen and the San Antonio Rampage combined for 12 goals on 75 shots en route to a 7-5 defeat at the hands of the Rampage in front of 6,437 at the AT&T Center.

Tonight's game was only the second time that the Rivermen have lost in regulation against the Rampage; Peoria is now 14-2-1-1 all-time against San Antonio, with both regulation losses coming on the road. The 44 shots on goal for Peoria is the third highest total this season; ironically, the Rivermen have lost in all six games in which they have posted their top six shots-on-goal performances.

The Rivermen (31-22-2-4, 68 pts) began a frenetic opening period of play on right wing Peter Ferraro's second goal with Peoria and 12 th overall at 4:15. From his own blue line, defenseman Tomas Mojzis whipped a pass down ice to Ferraro standing just in front of the San Antonio zone. Ferraro skated in along the right-wing boards then cut toward the net in the right face-off circle, waited for Rampage netminder Josh Tordjman to go down to a knee and then popped the puck above Tordjman's left shoulder.

San Antonio (28-35-1-3, 60 pts) tied the contest with a power-play goal at 8:59 of the first frame. Center Chris Ferraro, who is Peter's twin brother and is playing against him for only the fifth time in the AHL, began the play at the top of the left face-off circle and dished the puck to center point for defenseman Keith Yandle, who blasted a one-timer through a screen from center Donald MacLean that was stopped by Peoria goalie Marek Schwarz. The puck fell to the ice just above the crease, where MacLean chipped it over Schwarz for his team-leading 25th goal of the 2006-07 campaign.

Peoria notched its own man advantage goal a little less than two minutes later, at 10:44. Defenseman Jamie Rivers fired a pass cross-ice from the left point to the top of the right face-off circle, where center Yan Stastny sent a one-timer on net. Tordjman made the initial save, but could not locate the puck, which was lying just in front of the goal line along the right post. Center Trent Whitfield hurried from the slot and poked the puck into the net before Tordjman could freeze it for his 25 th marker on the season.

Just 11 seconds later, the Rampage made the game 2-2 on Ferraro's eighth tally of the year. MacLean walked into the zone through the slot and dumped the puck back to Ferraro, who made a spin move to escape from a Rivermen defenseman and flicked a wrist shot from the right circle through the legs of Schwarz.

The Rivermen took their third lead of the beginning session at 17:23. Stastny carried the puck into the Rampage zone along the right-wing boards and flipped the puck behind the net from the right point. Right wing Mike Glumac collected the puck and while at the left side of the net, but still behind the goal line, ricocheted a shot off of the right leg of Tordjman and into the net for his 18 th tally of the year.

Again Peoria's lead was short-lived as San Antonio scored its first of three unanswered goals at 17:45 of the opening stanza. From the left-wing corner, Ferraro sent a laser to defenseman Alex Leavitt, who was streaking through the slot. Leavitt tipped the pass over the outstretched left leg of Schwarz for his fifth tally of the 2006-07 campaign.

The 23 shots on goal that the Rivermen posted in the first frame were the most shots in a period so far this season.

The Rampage captured their first lead of the tilt at 4:35 of the second session on Leavitt's second goal of the game and sixth overall. MacLean fired a shot from the left point that was stopped by Schwarz, but the rebound bounced directly to Leavitt, who was in the slot, where he slid the puck past the right skate of Schwarz.

San Antonio increased its lead to 5-3 at 14:55 of the middle frame on MacLean's second tally of the tilt. Ferraro started with the puck at the right point and dished it off to Leavitt, who was in the slot, where he quickly tipped it over to MacLean at the left face-off dot. MacLean cocked and fired a shot that clanked off the right post and into the net.

Peoria tallied a goal with just 54 seconds left in the second period to cut its deficit to 5-4. Left wing Jon DiSalvatore raced down the left-wing boards, veered right into the left face-off circle and then sent a pass around a fallen Rampage defenseman in the zone for Whitfield, who snapped a shot past the right arm of Tordjman for his second goal of the night.

Just 1:19 into the third frame, the Rivermen registered a goal, tying the contest. Left wing Charles Linglet whipped a shot from the left face-off dot that was initially stopped by the new Rampage netminder David LeNeveu. The puck slipped behind the pads of a sprawled out LeNeveu and Glumac jammed it into the net for his second marker of the game and 19 th overall.

San Antonio regained the lead at 8:38 of the final period as defenseman Logan Stephenson recorded his third goal of the year. The puck slid into the neutral zone, just as Stephenson was exiting the penalty box; Stephenson grabbed the puck to start a breakaway and once he reached the slot, lifted it over the left shoulder of Schwarz.

The Rampage added their second power-play tally of the night at 10:04 of the last stanza. Just to the left of the net, center Daniel Winnik rolled the puck through the crease for center Pascal Rheaume, who had slipped behind the Rivermen defense, to deposit it into the net for his 15 th marker of the season.

The Rivermen, who are currently in the middle of a season-long seven-game road trip, will take on the Houston Aeros at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, March 10 in the Toyota Center.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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



American Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2007


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