KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Peoria Rivermen exploded for four goals in the second period and survived a late flurry to move into second place in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings with a 6-4 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears on Thursday night at Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
The Rivermen scored just 3:12 into the game when Jordan Sims poked in a short backhand at the left post after Garrett Vermeersch won a battle behind the net also assisted by Matt Summers. The Ice Bears evened the game on a power play with 12:23 on a wrist shot from the right point by Berkley Scott on assists from Ryan Salvis and Jake Johnson. 
The Rivermen quickly grabbed a 3-1 lead with goals just 32 seconds apart early in the second period, a power play goal by Jason Cohen from the right point 3:11 into the chapter assisted by Vermeersch and Sims, and a snipe from the top of the right circle 32 seconds later by Josh Harris with helpers given to Steve Morra and Nick Schneider. Just under three minutes later, the Ice Bears cut the marging to 3-2 when Ryan Salvis completed a tic-tac-toe from the right circle on passes from Berkley Scott and Johnson. Jake Trask knocked down an exit pass in front of the Knoxville net and scored to give the Rivermen a 4-2 lead with 10:25 showing in the second period assisted by Morra and Schneider. Trask scored his second tally of the game on the Rivermen’s second power play of the contest with 2:05 before the second intermission by picking up another deflection at the left circle, with assists to Mike Gurtler and Schneider, his third of the game, for a 5-2 advantage.
The Ice Bears cut their deficit to one goal with tallies 19 seconds apart in the final two minutes from Scott and Peter Neal, but Alex Hudson sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final minute.
Kyle Rank earned the win in goal with 34 saves while Braely Torris stopped 36 shots in the loss. The Rivermen were 2-for-3 on power plays while the Ice Bears were 2-for-4.
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