Rivermen drop third straight, 5-3

PEORIA, ILL – As he stood with a bloodshot eye surrounded by a purple and yellow shiner with a few stitches, Colton Gillies stood outside the Houston Aeros locker room on Monday night, saying he was a “little lucky.” Well, it is better to be lucky than good, they say, and Houston and Gillies were both on this night, as they defeated the Peoria Rivermen 5-3 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series against the Peoria Rivermen in front of 3067 disappointed fans.
Gillies scored the go-ahead and insurance goals in the third period, the first on a rebound scramble in front of the net and the second as the desperate Rivermen defense struggled to contain the Aeros offensive pressure.
It didn’t start out that way. The Rivermen held a 2-0 advantage after the first period, and a 3-2 lead, despite being held to a single shot in the second period, before heading into the third period. Gillies said the team was unshaken.
“We were expecting this, but, sure, we were (ticked) off (at being behind). We stuck to our game, our process, and it worked.”
The Rivermen made their presence known quickly when, after Houston won the opening faceoff, the team charged into the offensive zone and overwhelmed the Aeros. Akim Aliu was a one man wrecking crew, first keeping the puck in the zone, then checking his man to the ice before shoveling a pass to teammate Derek Nesbitt, whose shot was blocked. No worries, though as Aliu was there to backhand the rebound past Houston goalie Matt Hackett for a 1-0 Rivermen lead just 19 seconds into the game.
Nine-and-a-half minutes later, Dave Spina and Jake Gannon fought hard tokeep Peoria in possession of the puck, ranging from side-to-side behind the net. Finally, Spina corralled the puck in front of the net, and, falling down, put a shot into Hackett’s pillows. The puck bounced out front and TJ Hensick charged in and smacked the puck into the corner of the net for the 2-0 lead.
It was Houston that brought the pressure in the second period. With a man advantage to start the period, Chad Rau’s shot is blocked to the stickside of Allen but Casey Wellman is there to sneak the rebound behind Allen to get Houston on the board and cut the Rivermen lead in half, 2-1, just 48 seconds into the period.
The Aeros would hold the Rivermen to a single shot in the middle frame, but that was a slapper by Hensick on the only Rivermen Power Play of the period. Mark Cundari to Nathan Oystrick to Hensick – around the horn went the pass as Hensick teed up from outside the circle, putting the Rivermen up 3-1 at 3:41 of the second period.
Six minutes later, Jon DiSalvatore drew the Aeros within one, again, when he surprised Allen with a shot from above the circle that rattled around the cage, bringing the score to 3-2. Rau tied it up on a pass from Wellman and Gillies took it from there.
After the game, Hensick expressed the “frustration” the team felt in that third period. “We play them one game at a time. Tonight we have to get some sleep and come back focused on tomorrow.”
Rivermen head coach Jared Bednar knows that tomorrow night is a must-win for his team. ” I felt like we competed but we’ve got to turn it up, crank it up tomorrow night. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
For the record, the Rivermen scored once during two power play opportunities while Houston scored once with six man-advantages. The Aeros doubled-up the RIvermen in shots-on-goal, 30-15.
The teams play again tomorrow, Tuesday April 19, at 7pm in Peoria. If Peoria wins, it will force both teams to turn around and play again Wednesday night in a possible game five.
Game Notes: An overflow crowd in the press box as eight NHL teams – Nashville, Tampa Bay (2), Ottowa, Vancouver, Washington and Montreal each sent scouts while parent clubs St. Louis (Peoria) sent five and a pair from Minnesota (Houston) to evaluate the on-ice talent. Contact the author: Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com