Rivermen Shut Out Omaha 4-0 on the Road
April 13, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Omaha (April 13, 2007) - Peoria Rivermen used their third shutout of the season and the first for goaltender Jason Bacashihua to earn a 4-0 road victory over the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and keep their playoff hopes alive before a Friday-night crowd of 5,794 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
The win, which came after a 3-2 home shootout loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday, coupled with a Grand Rapids 3-1 road loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs moved the Rivermen to within two points of the Griffins for the North Division's fourth and final playoff spot, which is available to the West Division's fifth place team by virtue of an extra club in the West. The victory also gave Peoria a 10-0-0-0 lifetime AHL record in Omaha. The Rivermen own an 8-0-0-1 mark against the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (47-25-5-1, 100 pts) this season with tomorrow's game at Carver Arena between the clubs concluding the season series.
Bacashihua stopped all 26 Omaha shots in the shutout, including 10 in the second period, for his fourth win of the season. Rookie Marek Schwarz and Chris Beckford-Tseu each have the other Rivermen shutouts on the year.
The Rivermen (37-32-2-7, 83 pts) opened the scoring just 2:57 into the game. Peoria pushed the puck across the Omaha blue line on left wing, and just inside the blue line, center Trent Whitfield chipped the puck down the boards for right wing David Backes. Backes caught up to the puck, carried it out of the corner and moved toward the net before circling back up the wall to the left-wing circle, where he wristed the puck into the upper right corner from near the left side of the slot. The tally was Backes' 10th of the season with the Rivermen; he also had 10 goals in 49 games while on call-up with the Blues.
With a little more than three minutes remaining the first, Rivermen right wing veteran Rocky Thompson absolutely manhandled Omaha left wing Brandon Prust after both had left the penalty box following coincidental unsportsmanlike conduct penalties a couple of minutes earlier.
Peoria doubled its lead, making it 2-0, with just less than 27 seconds remaining in the opening period. Center Gavin Morgan corralled his own rebound near the left face-off dot and threw a backhand chance on goal that Omaha netminder Brent Krahn stopped. The rebound, though, fell right in front of Krahn, where left wing D.J. King chopped at the puck several times before popping it in past a down and prone Omaha goaltender. It was King's 4th marker of the season.
The Rivermen made it 3-0 at 1:35 of the third. Center Yan Stastny poked the puck by an Omaha defender up the left-wing boards just outside of the Omaha blue line and then sidestepped him to move in on a breakaway. Stastny, cutting down the left side of the zone, pulled up as he was crossing the low slot, pulling Krahn to the right post and snapping the puck inside the left. It was his 13th tally of the season.
King completed the scoring with just nine seconds left with Omaha's net empty for his second tally of the night and fifth of the season.
The Rivermen, who fell/improved to 16-18-1-4 on the road, complete the home-and-home series with the Knights tomorrow night - Saturday, April 14 - at 7:00 p.m. It is Ralph Rashid/Discover UFS/Ashley Furniture Fan Appreciation Night; thousands of dollars in prizes will be given away as fans enter Carver Arena. It is also Circle K Team Photo Night for the first 5,000 fans; the team photos contain two $1 gas coupons.
American Hockey League Stories from April 13, 2007
- Admirals Fall To Wolves 4-3 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Iowa clinches playoff spot - Houston Aeros
- Stars Secure Playoff Spot - Iowa Chops
- Price Near Perfect In Professional Debut - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Devils Keep Fighting, Shut Out Portland 2-0 - Albany Devils
- Bears Clinch AHL's Best Point Total Friday - Hershey Bears
- Giroux Scores First Professional Goal In 6-3 Setback - Adirondack Phantoms
- Knights Bow To Rivermen, 4-0 - Abbotsford Heat
- Rivermen Shut Out Omaha 4-0 on the Road - Peoria Rivermen
- Bears Beat Up Pens To Win East Division Title - Hershey Bears
- Admirals Halt Winless Skid, Will Face Penguins in First Round of Playoffs - Norfolk Admirals
- Griffins Suffer 3-1 Loss to Bulldogs - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Wolf Pack Win Third Straight GEICO Connecticut Cup - Connecticut Whale
- Wolf Pack Playoff Race Will Begin In Hartford - Connecticut Whale
- Fukufuji Backstops First AHL Shutout, Earns First Point - Manchester Monarchs
- Sound Tigers Bounced From Playoff Picture - Bridgeport Islanders
- P-Bruins Defeat Sharks 4-3 - Providence Bruins
- Moose Announce Year-End Award Winners - Manitoba Moose
- Crunch President and CEO Howard Dolgon To Throw Ceremonial First Pitch - Syracuse Crunch
- Ak-Sar-Ben Knights To Hold Fan Fest - Abbotsford Heat
- Wolves Haydar Named American Hockey League Mvp - Chicago Wolves
- Wolves' Haydar wins Les Cunningham Award as AHL's MVP - AHL
- Carey Price To Make Professional Debut Tonight - Hamilton Bulldogs
- AHL Morning Skate - AHL
- Aeros Gameday - Houston Aeros
- Bears Look To Make History Friday - Hershey Bears
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