Rivermen get first AHL preseason victory
September 27, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Hoffman Estates, IL (September 26, 2005) - The Peoria Rivermen achieved their first preseason victory as an American Hockey League member club on Monday night in suburban Chicago by beating the Chicago Wolves 6-5 at the Hoffman Estates Community Center. Peoria center Troy Riddle powered the Rivermen to the victory with a hat-trick.
The Wolves jumped out to an early lead just over a minute into the game. After Chicago's Brian Maloney had become pinned along the right corner boards, his teammate Vlad Serov came in, dug the puck out of the corner, and blindly threw it to the front of the net. Fortunately for the Wolves, Pat Dwyer got his stick on it and directed it in for an early 1-0 Chicago advantage.
After recording the primary assist on Chicago's first goal, Serov scored the team's second goal. On a power play, Wolves winger Brian Maloney first collected the puck in the slot and wheeled around to draw the Peoria defenders to him. He then calmly dished the puck to Serov, who one-timed a shot past Rivermen starting goaltender Curtis Sanford at the game's 4:20 mark.
Down 2-0 early on, the Rivermen fought back. Winger Konstantin Zakharov got Peoria on the board with a power-play tally at 6:04. Jon DiSalvatore made that play, digging the puck out of the right corner and finding Zakharov at the left post for a point-blank shot.
Troy Riddle then drew the Rivermen even with the Wolves about seven minutes later. With Peoria once again on the power play, defenseman Trevor Byrne took a shot from the point that rebounded off of Chicago goalie Kevin Reiter. Riddle then swooped in and banged it home amid heavy traffic in the crease.
Tied at two goals apiece after one period, this game was knotted at 3-3 at the end of the second period. Brian Maloney struck early on in the frame for the Wolves, tucking a neat power-play goal inside the right post behind Peoria's Sanford at 2:19. Riddle, however, again tied the score for the Rivermen, this time at 9:15 of the second.
At that point in the game, both teams changed goalies. Riverman Matt Underhill relieved Sanford, while Tuomas Tarkki came in for the Wolves' Reiter.
Peoria took its first lead of the game in the third period. The Rivermen went up 4-3 just 45 seconds into the frame when right wing Jon DiSalvatore notched a power-play goal with the help of Charles Linglet and Byrne. The lead grew to two goals after Justin Maiser lit the lamp at the 6:20 mark of the third.
The teams then traded power-play goals, the first by Chicago's Colin Stuart, and the second by Peoria's Riddle to record a hat-trick.
With the game standing at 6-4 in favor of Peoria, Wolves center Jared Ross trimmed the Rivermen lead to only one goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. The lead became even more tenuous for Peoria when Rivermen center Chris Durno was penalized for tripping at 19:32. Peoria, however, killed the penalty and held on for a 6-5 victory.
The Rivermen now stand at 1-0-0-1 in the 2005-06 preseason. The club will next travel to Des Moines to play the Iowa Stars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 27, at Wells Fargo Arena.
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