ECHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen "Skate" Past Toledo 3-1 in Front of Season-High 7,815

Published on March 5, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, Ill. – An inadvertent deflection off a skate got the scoring started for the Peoria Rivermen on Saturday night, as they used that to buoy themselves to a 3-1 victory over the archrival Toledo Storm before a season-high 7,815 at Carver Arena.

After a scoreless first period, the disputed goal came off the skate of rookie Jake Riddle, giving the Rivermen a 1-0 lead at 13:01 of the second. Russ Guzior held the puck in at the left point and waited before snapping a low shot toward the right goal post that deflected in off Riddle's skate. Riddle did not appear to celebrate much, thinking the goal would be waved off, but the referee Chris Ciamaga let it stand for Riddle's sixth tally of the season.

Peoria (27-18-7, 61 points) has won four in a row and improved to 6-1-2 through nine games of a Peoria professional hockey record 11 in a row at Carver Arena. The Rivermen are now 17-7-5 on home ice this season and 4-3-1 against the Storm. Peoria has held its opponents to two goals or less in 13 of its last 24 games. Toledo (31-22-4, 68 points) has lost three straight and five of its last seven games. The Storm dropped to 13-14-3 on the road.

Michaud (19-8-4) stopped 29 of 30 shots in the victory, his third in a row. Toledo goaltender Scott Fankhouser (20-12-3) turned away 31 of 33 Peoria chances in defeat.

Peoria gave itself a 2-0 lead with 14.1 seconds left in the second on the power play. Igor Valeev, stationed at the right face-off circle, took a pass from Ed Hill and wristed a shot toward the goal that Brian McCullough, at the bottom of the right face-off circle, deflected up into the upper right corner for his team-leading 28th tally of the season. McCullough extended his team, season-high goal-scoring streak to seven games. The goal also proved to be his team-leading eighth game winner of the year.

The Storm got within one with 1:41 remaining in regulation, halting Michaud's shutout bid at 58:19. Todd Jackson, in the right-wing corner, found Maris Ziedins, a healthy scratch in last night's game, at the right side of the slot for a laser wrist shot into the upper right corner. It was Ziedins' 16th goal of the season.

Rivermen Captain Trevor Baker sealed the win by stealing the puck at center ice in the face-off circle and sending the puck into an empty Toledo net. It was 11th marker of the season.

The Rivermen host the Trenton Titans tomorrow afternoon – Sunday, March 6 – at 3:00 p.m. at Carver Arena. It is the fourth and final Peoria Journal Star/Insight Media/InPlay Family Day. Kids 12 & Under receive $2 Upper Bowl admission , and there are $2.50 Kids Meals. Dora The Explorer will appear courtesy of Nickelodeon.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from March 5, 2005


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.

OurSports Central