Rivermen win twice in one evening
Published on December 4, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Des Moines, IA (December 3, 2005) - The Peoria Rivermen earned two victories over the Iowa Stars on Saturday evening in Des Moines. Peoria first defeated Iowa 5-3 in the conclusion of a game from earlier this season that was suspended until tonight. The Rivermen then claimed a 4-3 shootout win in the game that had been originally scheduled to take place on this night.
Coming into tonight, the Rivermen knew that they would have to play some extra hockey, but they had no idea exactly how much. The bonus hockey that they had expected to play was the third period of a Rivermen-Stars game that had been suspended until tonight from Sunday, November 13. Back on that November evening, the ice surface at Wells Fargo Arena had become unplayable by the second intermission because of a problem with the surface's refrigeration unit. So the third period of that game was postponed until tonight, when the Rivermen secured a 5-3 victory with an empty-net goal by right wing Jon DiSalvatore.
The Rivermen ended up playing even more extra hockey, however, for this evening's regularly scheduled Rivermen-Stars game went to a shootout. In the shootout, Peoria's Peter Sejna beat Iowa goaltender Mike Smith with a snap shot to the stick side, DiSalvatore put a wrist shot through Smith's five-hole, and Rivermen netminder Reinhard Divis stopped four Stars shootout attempts to help Peoria prevail 4-3.
The two wins push Peoria's overall record to 14-6-0-1. On the road, the Rivermen are now 6-2-0-0. With a loss and one shootout loss on the night, Iowa now stands 10-11-0-1 overall.
Forward Ryan Ramsay broke the ice for Peoria in tonight's regularly scheduled tilt at 4:48 of the second period. Hovering around the top edge of the crease in front of Iowa goaltender Mike Smith, Ramsay watched as his teammate Mike Glumac fired a shot from the left point. Concentrating on the flying puck, Ramsay tipped it past Smith for a 1-0 Rivermen lead.
Peoria's second goal came on the power play. Defenseman Mike Mottau chased down the puck in the right corner and then threw a powerful backhanded pass toward the front of the net. Rivermen center Troy Riddle arrived near the Iowa crease at just the right time to put his stick on the ice and direct the puck in the goal to give his team a 2-0 lead at 1:25 of the third period.
Just 14 seconds later, the Stars responded with a tally of their own. After his team had turned over the puck in the Peoria zone, Iowa's Vojtech Polak stole the puck back in the right circle and got off a quick shot that sailed by the left arm of Rivermen goalie Reinhard Divis. The goal made the game 2-1 in favor of Peoria at the 1:39 mark of the third frame.
Iowa tied the game at 2-2 about midway through the third. Off of a face-off at the left dot in the Peoria zone, Stars center Yared Hagos won the draw to his winger Marius Holtet, who unleashed a quick shot on goal. The puck screamed into the upper right corner of the net over Divis at 8:44.
The Stars took their first lead of the game thanks to left wing Mathias Tjarnqvist. As several Rivermen defenders converged on Iowa's Toby Petersen at the left boards, Petersen sent the puck ahead to Tjarnqvist, who then beat Divis with a nice backhanded move to put the Stars up 3-2 at the 13:08 mark of the third period.
The Rivermen fought back, however, and evened the score at 3-3 about one minute later. During a Peoria power play, defenseman Mike Mottau fired a quick snap shot on goal that was deflected home by center Trent Whitfield. That tally came at 14:01 of the third period and ultimately led to a scoreless overtime period and a shootout in which the Rivermen secured a win.
The Rivermen return home on Sunday for a 5:00 p.m. game against the Milwaukee Admirals.
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