Rivermen Push Past Atlantic City 4-1 at Home
January 21, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Peoria, Ill. â Brian McCullough netted two goals for the second game in a row and has six in his last four games, as the Peoria Rivermen beat the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies 4-1 before a Friday-night crowd of 4,486 at Carver Arena.
The victory gave Rivermen Head Coach Jason Christie 210 career regular season and playoff victories, making him the winningest coach in Peoria's 23-year professional hockey history. He surpassed ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Pat Kelly, who has 209.
Peoria grabbed a two-goal lead with the Boardwalk Bullies on the power play, making it 3-1. Tyler Rennette pushed the puck into the Atlantic City zone on right wing and slid it toward the slot, where McCullough â with an outstretched arm and a defenseman hanging all over him â tipped the puck through the legs of Atlantic City goaltender Jake Moreland.
It was McCullough's second tally of the game and team-leading 18th on the season. It was Peoria's fifth shorthanded goal of the season. McCullough's four-game goal scoring streak is the longest by a Rivermen player this season.
The Rivermen added an insurance goal with a little more than six minutes remaining on the power play. McCullough took a Justin Maiser pass while breaking down the left side of the Atlantic City zone and then circled in behind the goal. McCullough found Reggie Stringer just off the right goal post for an easy chip-in and his 10th tally of the season. It was Stringer's seventh goal in a Rivermen uniform.
Peoria (15-15-4, 34 points) moved back to the .500 mark for the first time since November 12 with the victory and has won three in a row overall since veteran broadcaster Norm Ulrich's return from quadruple bypass. The Rivermen have won five straight on home ice and improved to 9-5-2 at Carver Arena this season. The Rivermen improved to 13-2-1 when scoring three or more goals in a game this season. Atlantic City (21-10-5, 47 points) has lost four of its last five games and has just one win in its last seven contests (1-5-1). The Boardwalk Bullies dropped to 10-8-2 on the road this year.
Rivermen rookie goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu (7-8-2) stopped 26 of 27 shots in the win. Moreland (19-7-4) turned away 31 of 35 chances in the loss.
The Rivermen opened the scoring on the power play with 5:30 left in the first period. After failing to score on a four-minute double minor to Atlantic City defenseman Dave Reid and 29 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage, the Rivermen scored in the waning moments of their third power play of the session. Veteran defenseman Chris Bogas sidestepped a defender at the top of the right face-off circle and wristed his second goal of the year and in as many games through a screen past Moreland with Justin Maiser in front of the net.
Atlantic City tied it 1-1 at 6:33 of the second period. Scott Horvath broke into the Peoria zone on left wing and brought the puck to the bottom of the face-off circle, where he fed a darting Jason Notermann at the bottom of the right face-off circle for a one-time shot past an outstretched Beckford-Tseu. It was Notermann's third goal in as many games against the Rivermen, a team he was traded from the day before the season opened for rookie defenseman James Sanford.
The Rivermen took their second lead of the night with just 1:35 left in the middle stanza. Warren Toews lumbered into the Rivermen zone, catching up to a Maiser pass and trying to tip the puck past Moreland, who stepped out of his net between the hash marks to play the puck. The rebound was sent back to the left point, where McCullough rifled a low shot past Moreland, who was without a stick. It was the first of two goals on the night for McCullough and his 17th of the season.
The Rivermen continue six in a row at home Sunday afternoon against the Boardwalk Bullies. Game time is 3:00 p.m.
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