Peoria, IL – Goaltender Brad Barone.
That was the story New Year’s Eve for the Mississippi Riverkings. Barone stopped 31 of 33 shots in regulation. He then stopped 14 shots in the five-minute overtime, stopping what seemed like salvos from the Rivermen. When the game turned to the shoot-out, he stopped another 6 of 7, outlasting Rivermen goalie Storm Phanouf to literally save the victory for his team.
The Rivermen had to be saved themselves, first, though.
Down a goal late in the game, Ben Oskroba saved New Years Eve by tying the game at 2-all with less than four minutes left to play in regulation and forcing the game into overtime in front of 3,788 fans on New Years Eve at Peoria’s Carver Arena.
After dominating the first period, Peoria allowed two goals in the second period and the momentum of the game swung to the favor of the visiting Mississippi Riverkings.
Oskroba’s goal tied the game and stole the momentum back.
The Riverkings would survive 14 shots on goal during the five minute overtime by Peoria.
Brad Barone was absolutely outstanding, stopping three or four shot volleys in quick succession.
Good pressure throughout the first period finally paid off for Peoria when Nick D’Ovolio collected a pass from at the bottom of the far circle from Alec Hagaman at the end boards. D’Ovolio’s low shot slid past the stick of Riverking goalie Brad Barone for the lone score of the first period.
It would be Ryan Marcuz who, with Dakota Klecha in the box, evened it up at 5:4 of the second period. Marcuz fired, from the blue line, a heavy slapshot that flew past Rivermen goaltender Storm Phanouf untouched. Joe Sova and Cullen Bradshaw were credited with assists and the score was tied 1-1.
A defensive letdown followed the power play goal and that led directly to another goal at 10:02 of the second period. Todd Hosmer drove to the net, staking Memphis to a 2-1 lead.
Officially, Barone stopped 47 of 49 shots. Phanouf stopped 27 of 30, greatly improving upon his initial outings with the RIvermen at the beginning of the year.
Each team had three power plays, with Mississippi captializing on one of those.
Contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com, or follow him on Twitter @SLBatPHN
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