Rivermen Score Three in Third; Win 5-2
March 15, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
PEORIA, Ill. (March 15, 2009) - The Peoria Rivermen turned a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 win over the Quad City Flames with three goals in a span of 6:30 of the third period, Sunday afternoon at Carver Arena. The win was the sixth in the last seven games for Peoria and their franchise-best sixth consecutive win on home ice.
The line of Trent Whitfield, Chris Porter and Yan Stastny combined for the first three goals in the game for Peoria as they all finished with three points. Manny Legace turned in another strong outing by making 27 saves for his sixth victory of the season.
The game featured three fights (Eric Neilson vs. J.D. Watt; Alexander Hellstrom vs. Peter Vandermeer; Ryan Reaves vs. Cam Cunning) and eight combined power plays. Both teams failed to capitalize on their power-play time as the Rivermen went 0-for-5 and the Flames were 0-for-3. Of the 64 total penalty minutes in the game, 44 of them were accounted for in the first period and no penalties were called in the third.
Whitfield, in his first game back from his most recent stint with the St. Louis Blues, gave the Rivermen a 1-0 lead at 10:33 of the first. Porter bounced a puck into the slot and Whitfield backhanded it past Matt Keatley for his team-leading 19th goal of the season.
The two teams traded goals in the second period to give the Rivermen a 2-1 lead to enter the third. Kyle Greentree scored his 33rd of the season to tie the game at 4:30 before Stastny pushed the Rivermen back out in front. The goal for Stastny proved to be the 200th point of his professional career.
John Vigilante tied the game at 2-2, just 2:51 into the third period after his shot deflected past Legace.
Porter accounted for the game-winner at 5:19 with a slapshot from along the right-wing boards. Jonathan Filewich gave the Rivermen a two-goal lead at 9:45 after converting a two-on-one feed from Ivan Vishnevskiy. At 11:49 Curtis Faser put the finishing touched on the victory by backhanding home a Ryan Reaves shot for his second of the season.
The win, combined with a Rockford loss in Houston, put the Rivermen into a tie for the final playoff spot in the West Division. The win also improved Peoria's record to 8-1-0 against the Flames this season and 8-1-1 against them all-time at Carver Arena.
The Rivermen hit the road for five games as they head to San Antonio, Houston and Iowa before returning home. Peoria will face the Rampage on Wednesday at 7p.m. The game will have a live radio broadcast available on Hippie 101.1FM as well as www.rivermen.net.
American Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2009
- Worcester tops Wolf Pack 4-1 - Connecticut Whale
- Bulldogs down Americans 4-3 in shootout - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Ross Pushes Phantoms Past Admirals 3-2 - Adirondack Phantoms
- P-Bruins Defeat Devils 6-2 - Providence Bruins
- Aeros defeat Rockford 5-4 in pivotal west division game - Houston Aeros
- Griffins Drop Their Sixth One-Goal Decision to Milwaukee, 2-1 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Second period collapse rocks Rockford - Rockford IceHogs
- Bears top Sound Tigers, 3-2 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Phantoms Sneak Past Admirals 3-2 - Adirondack Phantoms
- Rivermen Score Three in Third; Win 5-2 - Peoria Rivermen
- Sharks Howl Past Pack, 4-1 - Worcester Sharks
- Devils Ambushed By Bruins, 6-2 - Albany Devils
- Moose fall to Marlies, 3-1 - Manitoba Moose
- Rivermen rally to beat Flames - Abbotsford Heat
- Amerks Host Bulldogs Tonight At The Blue Cross Arena - Rochester Americans
- 14th Annual Genesis Jersey Auction Raises Over $30,000 - Abbotsford Heat
- Comeback Kids! Chops rally for 6-4 in Quad City - Iowa Chops
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.
