PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Rivermen got a pair of goals each from Adam Stuart and Walker Wintoneak and Dalton McGrath played 44:35 of scoreless relief in net as the Rivermen beat the Fayetteville FireAntz 6-2 Sunday. The win, Peoria’s second in a three-game weekend with Fayetteville, comes on the heels of a 4-1 defeat to Fayetteville last night to snap Peoria’s record 14-game win streak.
The Rivermen opened the scoring at the 4:46 mark of the first period when Walker Wintoneak took the puck from the trapezoid and fed a charging Adam Stuart in the slot where he beat FireAntz goaltender Parker Van Buskirk for the 1-0 lead. The FireAntz tied the game at one on a shot from the left wing by Kyle Gibbons that beat Peoria goalie Kyle Rank at 6:42 of the first to make it 1-1. The FireAntz took the lead at the 15:25 mark of the first when Nick Lazorko walked down the goal line from the right wing and beat Rank from the top of the crease to make it 2-1. After Rank was relieved following Lazorko’s tally, Peoria tied the game at 19:35 of the first when Alec Hagaman’s shot from the top of the left circle resulted in a rebound that was knocked home by Jack Callahan to make it 2-2 through one period.
The Rivermen took the lead in the second period at 9:58 when Wintoneak took a pass in the slot from Ben Power and fired it home for a powerplay goal that made it 3-2 Rivermen. Peoria built the lead at the 11:44 mark of the second when Wintoneak gloved down a floater from the point and whacked it past Van Buskirk to make it 4-2. The Rivermen continued adding on at the 13:39 mark of the second when Stuart’s second goal of the game trickled by Van Buskirk to push the lead to 5-2.
After Stuart’s goal Van Buskirk was relieved by Fayetteville backup Dustin Carlson, and Peoria added an insurance goal at 4:04 of the third. Chris Wilson’s lead pass sprung Terrence Wallin on a breakaway that he converted past Carlson for the eventual final score, 6-2.
Rank stopped two of four shots faced before he was relieved by McGrath at the 15:25 mark of the first. McGrath stopped all 29 shots he faced in the final 44:35 of the game to earn the win, his second of his SPHL career.
Notes: Wilson’s assist on Wallin’s goal gives him 250 career points as a professional, all in the SPHL…Two goals and two assists for Wintoneak sets a new personal single-game high for points, and marks his first SPHL multi-point game…Stuart’s multi-goal game is his first of the year, and his ninth multi-point contest…McGrath’s win in net is the second of his SPHL career, with the other coming for Mississippi in a December 12 shootout at Carver Arena…Ben Power had three assists for Peoria to tie a personal single-game high last achieved February 6, 2014 against Columbus as a member of the Knoxville Ice Bears…The Rivermen return to action on the road this Thursday night in Macon with a 6:05 CST puck drop against the expansion Mayhem…
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