AHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Week in Review

Published on December 22, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

Present - December 31 - Pilot's House tickets to all Rivermen home games are available for just $8 until the end of 2008.

Sunday, December 28 - Comcast/Journal Star/Fun on the Run/Coke Family Day - Just $1 admission for kids 12 and under plus hot dogs, cokes and chips will be available for just $1 each for one hour prior to the game. Inflatable games, balloon art and face painting will be available. Fans can skate with the team after the game (please bring your own skates).

vs. Iowa (12/19): The Iowa Chops withstood a late offensive push by the Peoria Rivermen and came away with a 2-1 victory on Friday night at Carver Arena. It was just the third regulation loss for the Rivermen at home this season and the first time it has come at the hands of a West Division opponent. Despite the Rivermen offense receiving a boost in the form of forwards Cam Paddock and Chris Conner being assigned to Peoria from the NHL prior to game time, the Rivermen offense couldn't find one past J.P Levasseur until the final six minutes of the third period. When they did, it was defenseman Steve Wagner who scored his second goal of the season.

@ Iowa (12/20): After suffering back-to-back 2-1 losses, the Peoria Rivermen offense broke through against the Iowa Chops by scoring three goals in the third period to win 4-0 at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday night. Ben Bishop made 15 saves to record the first shutout of his professional career and second by a Rivermen goalie over the past four games. Josh Soares, Trent Whitfield and Chris Conner all scored within 4:52 of each other early in the third period to add insurance to Steve Regier's first period goal. Bishop made 13 of his 15 saves in the second period as the Rivermen limited the Chops to a single shot in both the first and the third periods.

vs. Houston (12/21): Jonathan Filewich showed up just in the nick of time. The forward, acquired in a trade on Friday, arrived to Carver Arena less than two hours before game time and promptly scored the game winning goal in the Peoria Rivermen's 4-3 shootout win over the Houston Aeros on Sunday night. Corey Locke tied the game with just 29.9 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime and eventually a shootout. The Rivermen improved to 3-0 in shootouts as Ben Bishop stopped 19 shots in regulation and three of four in the shootout. Peoria built themselves a 3-0 lead with goals from Josh Soares, Steve Wagner and Steve Regier all before the five minute mark of the second period.

TEAM LEADERS

THIS SEASON THIS WEEK

POINTS

Regier - 23

Regier - 4

GOALS

Regier/Conner - 11

Seven Players - 1

ASSISTS

Lemtyugov - 14

Regier - 4

POWER PLAY

34-for-179, 19.0%

2-for-16, 12.5%

PENALTY KILL

133-for-159, 83.6%

12-for-13, 85.7%

NEWS AND NOTES

Carving the Competition...Peoria's 10 home wins (11-3-1) are the most in the West Division and trail only Manitoba (13-5-0) in the Western Conference.

Slim Wins...Nine of the Rivermen's last 12 games have been decided by just a single goal. The Rivermen have now played 12 one-goal games and are 7-4-1 in those contests. 21 of the Rivermen's 31 total games have been decided by two goals or less.

Just One...The Rivermen held the Iowa Chops to just a single shot on goal in both the first and third periods on Saturday night. Bishop stopped 13 shots in the second period on his way to a 15 save shutout.

Goalie Vacation....Over the past seven games, the Rivermen have done a great job limiting shots. In the past 21 periods, the opposition is averaging just 6.6 shots per frame and has been held to five shots or less seven times. Overall the competition is averaging 26.32 shots per game, a total that is fourth fewest in the AHL.

Finishing Touches...With three goals in the third period on Saturday, the Rivs are now outscoring their competition 34-27 in the third period. They have scored more goals in the third than they have in the first (30) or second (28) periods. The 27 goals allowed in the third is also fewest among the three periods.

Better Late Than Never...Ben Bishop finally got the shutout that he started back on October 25 in his first NHL start. Bishop stopped all 12 shots he faced against the Florida Panthers but had to leave the game after 44:33 due to an injury. On Saturday he made 15 saves and recorded his first professional shutout against the Iowa Chops.

December to Remember...Peoria is 7-3-0 in their first 10 games in the month of December. They have already surpassed their wins for November and still have five games remaining before the New Year.

Back on Track...The Rivermen power play ended a 1-for-16 drought by scoring twice in seven chances on Saturday against Iowa. They have now scored multiple power-play goals nine time this season.

Almost perfect...Since December 6, the Peoria penalty kill is an impressive 26-for-28 (92.9 percent).

Iron Man...With Nicholas Drazenovic missing Sunday's game due to illness, the Peoria Rivermen no longer have a player to appear in every game this season. Drazenovic was the last man standing after playing in 30 consecutive games to start the year. Last season, Charles Linglet, Trent Whitfield and Chris Porter played in all 80 games.

WEEK 12 PREVIEW

Grand Rapids Griffins National Hockey League Parent Club Detroit Red Wings

Record 17-7-3-3

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen) 40 (n/a)

NORTH Division Standing

2nd

Rivermen Record Against 1-0-0

Leading Scorer

Ville Leino (7g, 18a - 25pts)

Starting Goaltender

Jimmy Howard (7-7-2, 2.68 GAA, .900 sv%)

AHL Power-Play Rank

10th - 18.4% (30-for-163)

AHL Penalty-Kill Rank

t-2nd - 87.5% (147-for-168)

San Antonio Rampage

National Hockey League Parent Club Phoenix Coyotes

Record 9-22-0-1

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen) 19 (-18)

West Division Standing 8th

Rivermen Record Against

1-0-0

Leading Scorer

Chad Kalorik (10g, 9a - 19pts)

Starting Goaltender

Josh Tordjman (8-11-1, 2.65 GAA, .906 sv%)

AHL Power-Play Rank

27th - 12.1% (21-for-173)

AHL Penalty-Kill Rank

10th - 83.8% (145-for-173)

Houston Aeros

National Hockey League Parent Club Minnesota Wild

Record 15-10-1-5

Standings Points (Relative to Rivermen) 36 (-1)

West Division Standing 4th

Rivermen Record Against

1-0-0

Leading Scorer

Corey Locke (11g, 21a - 32pts)

Starting Goaltender

Nolan Schaefer (7-8-2, 2.61 GAA, .905 sv%)

AHL Power-Play Rank

12th - 17.8% (28-for-157)

AHL Penalty-Kill Rank

5th - 86.5% (141-for-163)

*All statistics as of 12/22/08

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

12/20/2008 Ross Carlson (LW) DEL Released from PTO

12/19/2008 Ben Bishop (G) ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)

12/19/2008 Cam Paddock (C) ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)

12/19/2008 Jonas Junland (D) ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)

12/19/2008 Jonathan Filewich (RW) ADD Loaned from St. Louis (NHL)

12/18/2008 Chris Conner (RW) ADD Returned on loan from Dallas (NHL)

12/17/2008 Jonas Junland (D) DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)

12/17/2008 Nikolay Lemtyugov (RW) Suspended by Team

12/16/2008 Tyson Strachan (D) DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 22, 2008


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