Rivermen Fall to RiverKings
January 9, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
PEORIA - The Peoria Rivermen dominated play in the first period but did not sustain the effort as the Mississippi RiverKings captured a 3-1 win on Friday night at Carver Arena.
The first period was scoreless although the RiverKings didn't record a shot on goal for the first 13:15 and were outshot by the Rivermen 12-3 at the first intermission. The RiverKings nonetheless scored the first tally on a Matt Whitehead breakaway 6:41 into the second period when Andrew Randazzo deflected a pass out to center ice in Whitehead's unmolested path to the net. Peoria equaled the game just seven seconds into their second power play at 10:16 of the second period on a Jake Trask goal assisted by Josh Harris and Jason Cohen to send the game to the second intermission at 1-1.
The RiverKings grabbed a 2-1 lead with 8:26 left in the third period when a rebound tumbled off Linden Bahm near the left post into an open net. Whitehead sealed the game with an empty net goal with 52.2 seconds remaining.
Peter DiSalvo registered a 24-save win while Kyle Rank stopped 22 shots to take the loss. Only three minor penalties were handed out in an incident-free game with the Rivermen scoring once on two power plays while the RiverKings did not tally on their only chance.
The Rivermen fall for only the third time in 12 home games and drop to 15-8-2 while the RiverKings improve to 12-13-2 and remain in seventh place in the Southern Professional Hockey League. With Knoxville's win at Huntsville, the Rivermen fall to third place with 32 points, four behind league-leading Pensacola, two behind second-place Knoxville and just one point ahead of fourth-place Louisiana.
The Rivermen continue the three-game weekend series with the RiverKings on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. on Star Wars Night featuring special jerseys worn during the game and auctioned immediately after the contest. Sunday's 3:05 face-off features PJ Star Family Fun Day activities in the Great Hall from 2:00 until game time including Wild Style Design face painting, Unique Twist balloon creations and Fun on the Run inflatables. Dora the Explorer and Boots will appear, and kids 12 and under are admitted for only $1 with $3 kids meals of a hot dog, chips and drink.
Single game tickets for Peoria's 33rd season of professional hockey are on sale weekdays at the Peoria Civic Center. Season ticket packages and group ticket options for the 2014-15 campaign are on sale now through the Rivermen office, located at 201 S.W. Jefferson Street, or over the phone at (309) 676-1040. For the latest Rivermen news and notes, follow online at www.rivermen.net or through Facebook ( www.facebook.com/PeoriaRivermen) and Twitter ( https://twitter.com/Peoria_Rivermen).
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