Rivermen Weekly
January 25, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
@ Abbotsford (1/18) After scoring just four goals over their last three games, the Peoria Rivermen offense erupted for three goals in 2:50 and rolled to a 5-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Tuesday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre. The victory ended Peoria's three-game losing streak and pushed them back into the top spot in the West Division and the Western Conference with 55 points (26-13-2-1).
@ Abbotsford (1/19) Jean Philippe Lamoureux became the second goaltender this season to shutout the Peoria Rivermen this season as he backstopped the Abbotsford Heat to a 2-0 win. He faced just 22 shots and helped stop all seven Rivermen power plays en route to his first shutout of the year.
@ Tornoto (1/22) For the second straight game the Peoria Rivermen were held off the board. On Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum, James Reimer made 29 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and blank the Rivermen 4-0.
@ Lake Erie (1/23) The Peoria Rivermen erupted for three unanswered third period goals Sunday afternoon to beat the Lake Erie Monsters 3-1 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Ben Bishop stopped 29 of 30 shots giving him his 11th win of the year, while Chris Porter and Nick Drazenovic both had a goal and an assist in the contest.
TEAM LEADERS
THIS SEASON
THIS WEEK
POINTS
T.J. Hensick - 37
Nathan Oystrick - 3
GOALS
Derek Nesbitt - 14
Nick Drazenovic - 2
ASSISTS
T.J. Hensick - 27
Three Players - 3
POWER PLAY
40-for-205, 19.5% (11)
3-for-27, 11.0%
PENALTY KILL
203-for-236, 86.0% (4)
16-for-29, 84.2%
NEWS AND NOTES
Overall.The Rivermen sit in first place in the West Division and are tied for the top spot in the Western Conference with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Peoria's 57 points are behind only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (68), Portland (59) and Manchester (58) in the overall AHL standings.
Western Jam.The West Division is anyone's game at this point in the season. Seven of the division's eight teams are within four points of one another. The next closest division between first and seventh place is the Atlantic where Portland and Springfield are 15 points apart. In the East the Wilkes/Barre Scranton Penguins have a 31 point cushion over seventh-place Syracuse. There is currently a four-way tie for second place in the West.
Hensick Added to All-Star Roster. T.J. Hensick became the third Rivermen to add an all-star appearance to their resume this season, matching host-Hershey for most players on the roster. For Hensick it is his third all-star appearance in four professional seasons. Goaltender Jake Allen was voted as the starter for the Western Conference squad while defenseman Nathan Oystrick is a two-time all-star. They will be joined by Rivermen head coach Jared Bednar who was named the co-coach of the Western Conference team by virtue of the Rivermen having the best record in the conference.
Ending the drought.Peoria was shutout in back-to-back games on their road trip. Anthony Nigro's goal in the third period on Sunday ended a stretch of 173:42 of scoreless hockey for the Rivermen, by far the longest stretch in the Rivermen AHL era. The Rivermen went on to score twice in 1:21 following the end of the drought.
Power Outage.The Rivermen also ended a power-play drought on Sunday when Chris Porter scored the eventual game-winner on the man advantage. Peoria had not scored in 17 straight power plays. Over the past seven games, the Rivermen are 4-for-41 (9.7 percent).
Perfect No More.Wednesday was the first time all season in which the Rivermen held their opponent to less than three goals and lost. They are now 24-1-0-0 when allowing two goals or less.
Oddly Enough.With Peoria's lone game in Toronto out of the way, the Rivermen have visited every arena they will see this season except one.Chicago. The Rivermen will visit Chicago 4 times between Feb. 5 and March 11.
Going Streaking. T.J. Hensick is currently on a seven game home point streak that started back on Dec. 19th. He has racked up 10 points over the streak so far (1g, 9a).
Follow The Leader. The Rivermen are undefeated in regulation when leading after periods one (6-0-0-1) and two (8-0-0-1) on the road this season. At home the Rivermen have only lost twice when leading after periods one and two (18-2).
Keeping 'Em Out. The Rivermen are ranked third in team goals-against average this season at 2.42. With 109 goals allowed, only Hershey (102), Manitoba (106, and Hamilton (106) have allowed fewer goals.
First Things First. The Rivermen are 20-3-1-1 when scoring first (0.840%), which is the best in the Western Conference and second in the AHL. The only team with a better percentage is Manchester with a of 0.864 (18-2-0-2).
All Star Type Numbers. Nathan Oystrick leads all defense in the AHL with 10 goals and six power play goals. He has racked up 26 points so far this year which is the best for defensemen on the team and third best overall.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
01/24/2011
Andrew Carroll (F)
DEL Released from PTO
01/24/2011
Jake Gannon (D)
DEL Released from PTO
01/23/2011
Ian Cole (D)
ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)
01/23/2011
Nikita Nikitin (D)
DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)
01/23/2011
Ryan Reaves (RW)
ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)
01/23/2011
Stefan Della Rovere (LW)
DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)
01/22/2011
Jake Gannon (D)
ADD Signed to PTO
01/20/2011
Chris Porter (LW)
ADD Returned on loan from St. Louis (NHL)
01/19/2011
Ian Cole (D)
DEL Recalled from loan by St. Louis (NHL)
01/16/2011
Ethan Cox (RW)
DEL Released from PTO
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