Chicago sinks Rivermen 3-2

PEORIA, Ill – The Peoria Rivermen and Chicago Wolves battled in front of 6018 Black Friday fans at Carver Arena on Friday night, but it was the visiting Wolves that took home two points. The Wolves came away with the 3-2 victory after an overtime defensive letdown by Peoria allowed Chicago to swarm goaltender Ben Bishop and put the game away.

The Rivermen, again, got on the board first and early. Dave Spina broke in with the puck with Derek Nesbitt on his left. Dave Scratchard trailed in and on the right side. Spina dished right and Scratchard fired a shot at Chicago goalie Peter Mannino, who blocked it. The rebound came right to Nesbitt and the right winger filled the net from the left side to give the Rivermen the lead just 55 seconds into the game.
The Wolves evened it up exactly seven minutes into the first period when Paul Postma, from the top of the right circle, slipped the puck between post and the outstretched glove of Bishop. The puck clanked against the post and bounced out and the red light did not go off at first, but referee Keith Kaval made the signal and the score was tied.
The first period was up-and-down the ice with the Wolves very aggressive on the forecheck. It turned into a bit of an endurance race, as well when Ian Cole found himself in the box for a high-sticking double minor. The Rivermen killed the first half of the penalty entirely in their own defensive zone. For 2:05 theRivermen were not able to clear their zone or change their line. This was capped off on a highlight reel save by Bishop when he went down to block a shot that actually went wide left and bounced right to the point on the wide open right side. Just as the shot arrived at the crease, Bishop’s pad came sliding through, making the save. Official scoring shows this as the only shot of the 4 minute Chicago power play, but the Wolves pressed – hard – during the man advantage and Bishop and the Peoria skaters kept the Wolves from scoring.
A little over halfway through the second period, Jared Ross broke the tie as he grabbed the puck off a face-off and raced in alone against Bishop. Nigel Dawes got the assist as the Wolves took a 2-1 lead.
The Rivermen tied the game up again five minutes into the third period courtesy of the same crew that scored the first goal. This time it was Nebitt at the top of the slot who spun and shot. Mannino made the stop but Scrathard was camped on the left point and shoveled the backhand in to make it 2-2. Spina added is second assist of the night.
Chicago drew boos and cat-calls when they decided to ‘run-out-the-clock’ with20 seconds left in the game. The Wolves simply put the puck behind their own net and waited for the clock to run out. The strategy worked, though, as Peoria was caught on their heels during the overtime period. Spencer Machacek buried a Michael Davies rebound and the game was over just 2 minutes and seven seconds into the extra time.
Although the official scoresheet showed only two shots during the extra period, the Wolves took many more than that. The Wolves finished what the Rivermen could not. While Bishop allowed a couple of soft goals, he came up huge time and time again when the Rivermen could not clear their defensive zone.
At the other end of the ice, Mannino looked eminently beatable. Many times, fat rebounds sat in the cease only to be swept away by the Chicago defense.
Of note, there were only five power play opportunities in the game, but four of those were for the Wolves. Both teams’ penalty kill squads were perfect on the night.
Contact the author: Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com Contact the photographer at chris.loudermilk@prohockeynews.com