Rivermen ruin Americans' only trip to Peoria this year, 3-2
March 1, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Peoria, IL (March 1, 2006) - The Peoria Rivermen showed no hospitality to the Rochester Americans on Wednesday evening, as the Rivermen defeated the Americans 3-2 in the Rochester club's lone visit to Carver Arena this season. Forwards Ryan Ramsay and Cam Keith each tallied a goal for Peoria, and goaltender Reinhard Divis turned aside 19 Rochester shots to earn the win. The unexpected star performer of the game, however, was Rivermen defenseman Aaron MacKenzie. Entering this contest, MacKenzie had scored just one goal and added three assists in his 32 appearances for Peoria in 2005-06. The blueliner nearly matched that output on Wednesday night against the Americans, though, coming through with the game-winning goal and two assists to lead the Rivermen to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory and to earn first-star honors for the game.
MacKenzie recorded an assist on Peoria's first goal as the Rivermen grabbed an early lead on the Americans just over three minutes into the tilt. After Rochester goalie Mika Noronen seemed to have caught a MacKenzie shot from the top of the left circle in the Amerks' zone, the puck trickled just behind Noronen and to his left. At just the right instant, Ramsay then crashed to the net and banged the puck behind Noronen and into the goal for his fifth tally of the year and a 1-0 Rivermen advantage at the 3:01 mark of the initial session.
On the second Rivermen goal of the game at the 13:10 mark of the third period, MacKenzie picked up his second assist of the evening. The helper came after MacKenzie unleashed a slap shot from the center point in the Americans' end. With a Rochester defenseman draped all over him in the slot, Keith was able to get his stick on MacKenzie's shot and deflect the puck past Noronen to even things up at 2-2 for the Rivermen on Keith's third goal of the year.
To cap off his stellar evening, MacKenzie netted the game-winning goal on a power play with approximately four minutes remaining in regulation. Rivermen center Blake Evans set up the winning score with a firm pass to MacKenzie near the left-wing boards in the Rochester zone. After walking the puck out off of the boards to the left point, MacKenzie fired a high shot that sailed by Noronen and into the net at 15:59 of the third to produce the final score of 3-2 in favor of Peoria. The game-winning power-play strike was only the second goal of the season for MacKenzie.
In coming back to win this game 3-2 after having trailed the Americans by a count of 2-1 in the second period, the Rivermen improve to an overall record of 33-20-1-4 and to a home mark of 20-9-0-2. Rochester, on the other hand, drops to 27-28-1-2 on the season and to 15-14-0-1 on the road.
After the Rivermen scored in the first few minutes of the first period, the Americans responded with an early-period goal of their own to start the second frame. Taking a nice feed off of the right-wing boards in the Rivermen zone from winger Mark Mancari, Rochester's Michael Ryan connected with the back of the Peoria goal on an authoritative shot from the high slot area at just 1:34 of the second. The seventh goal of the season for the left wing tied the game at 1-1 for the Americans.
The Americans then went ahead 2-1 late in the second period during a Peoria power play. On a Rivermen turnover near center ice, Rochester defenseman Nathan Paetsch poked the puck ahead into the Peoria end for streaking left wing Daniel Paille. Collecting the puck just inside the blueline, Paille skated in alone on Rivermen netminder Reinhard Divis and calmly slid the puck through Divis' five-hole to put Rochester up by one goal with a shorthanded strike at the 13:59 mark of the middle frame. The shorthanded score pushed Paille's season goal total to seven.
Looming this weekend for the Rivermen are three straight division games from Friday through Sunday against the Iowa Stars, the Milwaukee Admirals, and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, respectively.
American Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2006
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