AHL Peoria Rivermen

Team Looks to Jump-start Offense in Two Games This Weekend

March 20, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


RIVERMEN ACTION LAST WEEK

Wednesday, March 15, RIVERMEN 2 @ Rochester Americans 1: The Rivermen started a three-game road-trip out East through Rochester, Manchester, and Syracuse with a close, 2-1 victory over the Rochester Americans last Wednesday. The Rivermen got both of their goals within the first seven minutes of this game. At the 4:34 mark of the first period, forward Ryan Ramsay netted his 10th goal of the year on assists by right wing Jon DiSalvatore and defenseman Jeff Woywitka. Then, less than two minutes later, right winger Reed Low notched his third goal of the season on a nifty deflection of the puck between his legs and up into the top left corner of the goal during a Peoria power play. The primary assist on the play once again went to DiSalvatore, and center Gavin Morgan picked up the secondary helper on the strike at 6:18 of the opening frame. Early on in the middle session, at the 2:48 mark, Rochester center Jiri Novotny pared the Peoria advantage down to one goal at 2-1 with his 15th goal of 2005-06. The Americans, however, would score no more the rest of the way, and the Rivermen held on for a 2-1 road victory. Chris Beckford-Tseu manned the Peoria crease during the contest, faced 18 shots on goal, made 17 saves, and picked up his third career AHL win. The Rivermen out-shot the Americans by a count of 20-18. With the man-advantage, Peoria went one for five, while Rochester ended up zero for two.

Friday, March 17, Manchester Monarchs 2 vs. RIVERMEN 1 (OT): The Peoria Rivermen did not enjoy a happy St. Patrick's Day because they suffered their third overtime loss of the season, 2-1, at the hands of the Manchester Monarchs on the road at Verizon Wireless Arena last Friday. The Rivermen and the Monarchs struggled through two scoreless periods before finally getting on the scoreboard in the third frame. Manchester struck first, as left winger Dany Roussin tallied a power-play goal just 1:48 into the third period to stake the Monarchs to a 1-0 lead on his second goal of the year. The Rivermen responded midway through the period, when center Ryan Ramsay potted his 11th goal of the season at the 10:52 mark of the third to deadlock the game at 1-1. The game then entered overtime at that same 1-1 score, and the teams continued to battle without scoring for most of the extra session. That is, until the final minute of overtime, when Manchester center Greg Hogeboom came streaking down the slot to bury a centering pass from defenseman Richard Petiot with just 51 seconds remaining for a 2-1 overtime victory for the Monarchs. Goaltender Gregg Naumenko made his first start for the Rivermen in this game and absorbed the loss after making 26 saves. The Rivermen out-shot the Monarchs by the count of 34-28. Peoria failed to convert either of its two power-play chances, while Manchester went one for four with the man-advantage.

Saturday, March 18, Syracuse Crunch 2 vs. RIVERMEN 0: The Peoria club's three-game road-trip out East last week came to an end in Syracuse, New York, where the Peoria Rivermen suffered their second shutout loss of the season by the count of 2-0 against the Syracuse Crunch. The Rivermen and the Crunch struggled through a scoreless first period in this game, as Peoria got off nine shots on goal and Syracuse registered 11 shots, all to no avail. In the middle frame, the Crunch squeezed off 12 shots on goal compared to only six by the Rivermen, and one of Syracuse's shots found the back of the net. Left wing Cam Severson staked Syracuse to a 1-0 lead at the 9:27 mark of the second period with his 14th goal of the season. Although the Rivermen came out blazing in the third session and fired off 17 shots at Crunch netminder Martin Prusek, they again failed to light the lamp. Syracuse recorded a modest eight shots on goal in the third, but the team scored another goal on its final shot of the game. That shot came off of the stick of Severson, who iced a 2-0 win for the Crunch with his second tally of the game and his 15th of 2005-06 into an empty Peoria net with just seven seconds remaining in regulation. Chris Beckford-Tseu took a hard-luck loss in goal for the Rivermen, making 29 saves on the 30 shots he faced. In the end, Peoria out-shot Syracuse by the count of 32-31. Neither club converted on the power play, as the Rivermen had six man-advantage chances, and the Crunch had five such opportunities.

A CHANGE AT THE TOP

Right wing Jon DiSalvatore became Peoria's overall leading scorer last week. Although he already ranked as the team's top active point-getter as the Rivermen entered last week's slate of games, DiSalvatore still trailed by one point right wing Mike Glumac, who is currently skating with the Rivermen parent club St. Louis Blues. DiSalvatore tied Glumac at 57 points on the season and then surpassed him by one after picking up the primary assist on both of the goals the Rivermen scored in their 2-1 defeat of the Rochester Americans last Wednesday evening.

NAUMENKO DEBUTS FOR RIVERMEN

Goaltender Gregg Naumenko made his first start for the Rivermen last Friday night at Manchester. In that game, he turned in a solid effort, making 26 saves and allowing only two goals on 28 shots as Peoria lost in overtime 2-1. The Rivermen are the fourth AHL team and fifth squad overall for which Naumenko has seen action this season. Prior to joining the Peoria side, the goalie made appearances in 2005-06 for the Chicago Wolves (3 games), the Portland Pirates (7 games), and the Albany River Rats (6 games) of the AHL, as well as for the Dayton Bombers (6 games) of the ECHL.

THAT'S TWO

The Rivermen suffered only their second shutout loss of the season last Saturday in Syracuse, as Crunch netminder Martin Prusek stoned them on 32 shots. Peoria's first shutout loss came back on Saturday, November 26, 2005, when goalie Mike Smith and the Iowa Stars blanked the Rivermen on 29 shots.

NOT BAD FOR BECKFORD-TSEU

Rivermen goalie Chris Beckford-Tseu performed pretty well last week. On Wednesday in Rochester, he made 17 saves on 18 shots to backstop Peoria's 2-1 victory. Then on Saturday at Syracuse, Beckford-Tseu turned aside 29 of the 30 shots on goal that he faced in suffering a hard-luck 2-0 loss. In all last week, Beckford-Tseu allowed only two goals on 48 shots in 118:58 of action and posted a 1-1-0 record, a 1.01 goals-against average, and a .958 save percentage.

RAGING RIVERMEN

On 3-8 @ GRA, D Mike Mottau enjoyed a four-point night with two goals and two assists. He now has scored four goals and dished out 10 assists to collect 14 points in the last 17 tilts...C Gavin Morgan has registered 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) in the last nine contests...RW Jon DiSalvatore has scored 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in his last 14 games...D Mike Stuart has registered four assists in the past six games...F Cam Keith has potted two goals and two assists in the past five contests...RW Brendan Brooks has picked up one goal and four assists in the past eight tilts...C Ryan Ramsay has tallied seven goals and three assists over the last 11 contests...LW Charles Linglet has recorded one point in each of his last three outings (2 goals, 1 assist)...RW Reed Low has tallied three goals and three assists in the last seven outings...C Mike Zigomanis has scored 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) in his last 10 contests...D Jeff Woywitka has registered one helper in five of the last 10 games.

RECENT RIVERMEN TRANSACTIONS

March 20, 2006 D Ed Hill loaned by the AHL Peoria Rivermen to the ECHL Utah Grizzlies.

March 20, 2006 RW David Backes signed to a 25-game amateur tryout (ATO) contract.

March 15, 2006 G Chris Beckford-Tseu reassigned by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) under emergency conditions.

March 15, 2006 G Reinhard Divis recalled from his loan to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) under emergency conditions.

March 13, 2006 G Chris Beckford-Tseu reassigned by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) from the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) to the Alaska Aces (ECHL).

March 13, 2006 G Gregg Naumenko signed to an AHL standard player contract.

March 13, 2006 F Joe Talbot released from his 25-game professional tryout (PTO) contract.

March 13, 2006 RW Colin Hemingway reassigned by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) to the Peoria Rivermen (AHL).

March 13, 2006 D Ed Hill signed to an AHL standard player contract.

March 13, 2006 D Ed Hill released from his 25-game professional tryout (PTO) contract.

RIVERMEN ACTION THIS WEEK

FRIDAY, MARCH 24

San Antonio Rampage @ PEORIA RIVERMEN

7:30 p.m., Carver Arena

SATURDAY, MARCH 25

PEORIA RIVERMEN @ Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights

7:00 p.m., Omaha Civic Auditorium

Radio: All Rivermen games are broadcast LIVE on HOPE 98.5 (WPIA-FM), the flagship radio station of the Peoria Rivermen.

Internet Audio: LIVE streaming audio of all Rivermen games is available for no charge at www.rivermen.net.

Internet Video: LIVE streaming video with the accompanying audio feed is available at www.rivermen.net through the facilities of the b2 networks. The video Webcast of each game is available for a pay-per-view fee of $6.

Friday, March 24, San Antonio Rampage @ RIVERMEN

SCOUTING THE RAMPAGE

National Hockey League Parent Club: Phoenix Coyotes

Record Entering This Week: 21-39-2-4

Standings Points (Relative to Peoria Rivermen): 48 (-35)

Western Conference Standing: 14th Place

West Division Standing: 7th Place

Rivermen Record vs. Rampage: 6-0-1-0

Leading Scorer: C Layne Ulmer (64 GP, 17 G, 22 A, 39 PTS)

Number-1 Goaltender: David LeNeveu (28 GP, 10-16-2, 2.92 GAA, .921 SV PCT, 2 SO)

AHL Power-play Ranking Entering This Week: 26th (13.57%)

AHL Penalty-kill Ranking Entering This Week: 17th (82.09%)

Saturday, March 25, RIVERMEN @ Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights

SCOUTING THE AK-SAR-BEN KNIGHTS

National Hockey League Parent Club: Calgary Flames

Record Entering This Week: 32-25-2-8

Standings Points (Relative to Peoria Rivermen): 74 (-9)

Western Conference Standing: 8th Place

West Division Standing: 4th Place

Rivermen Record vs. Ak-Sar-Ben Knights: 5-2-0-0

Leading Scorer: D Mark Giordano (67 GP, 14 G, 41 A, 55 PTS)

Number-1 Goaltender: Brent Krahn (47 GP, 23-16-6, 2.46 GAA, .912 SV PCT, 3 SO)

AHL Power-play Ranking Entering This Week: 13th (17.72%)

AHL Penalty-kill Ranking Entering This Week: 4th (84.81%)

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2006


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