Peoria, IL – – Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes you have to ‘bust your butt.’
Peoria rallied twice against the Knoxville Ice Bears on Saturday night in front of a rambunctious 4816 fans on youth hockey night before finally ending up on top on an Alec Hagaman penalty shot in overtime to beat the Ice Bears 3-2.
Mike Gurtler, during a live interview during the first intermission, told the crowd that the team was “bustin’ their asses” on the ice during the first period, despite falling behind early on a freak play.
The scoring started ominously. Although Jake Flegel was credited with a goal for Knoxville at 8:27 of the first period, it was actually a Rivermen own-goal.
Goaltender Tyler Parks made a good stop at the top of the crease on Flegel’s shot, and the rebound bounced to a defender staked out on the post. That defender tipped it back into the crease, behind Parks, where the puck trickled across the goal line to light the lamp.
Peoria evened the score at 11:57 of the first on a power play goal by Gurtler.
Gurtler had been stoned by Ice Bear goalie Troy Davenport after making a highlight-reel move to force a shot a shift earlier. This time, Dakota Klecha raced down the near boards and fired not a shot, but a pass, across the top of the crease. Gurtler was there waiting to redirect the biscuit into the basket to even the score and one-all.
Knoxville scored again at 12:22 of the second period. Lawrence Cornellier worked himself clear of traffic. He was assisted by Clement and Kelley on a powerplay, 2-1 Knoxville.
At one point in the second period, eight players were in the box, three from Knoxville and five for Peoria. There was a fight…or not. Hagaman and Cornellier dropped the gloves and exchanged some short punches but were both given Roughing minors.
The third period started with a heavyweight fight right after the faceoff. Michael Economos and Al Graves dropped, circled and then came together. Knoxville had just signed Graves earlier in the day, and it is assumed it is for his fighting reputation. That reputation took a beating when Economs landed three straight rights to the chin.
But the Rivermen still trailed. Dustin Jesseu to the rescue with his first Rivermen goal in his second game. His low shot slid past Davenport, untouched, to even the game at two goal apiece. The game then proceeded to overtime.
In an odd turn of events, Davenport took a penalty for diving during the third period. Replays showed clearly no contact between the goalie and any other player. He stopped 27 of 30 shots in the loss but made several outstanding plays after regulation, extending overtime. Parks was excellent, allowing only two goals on 25 shots for his seventh win in eight SPHL outings this year.
Sophia Bill contributed to this report. Contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com or follow him on Twtter @SLBatPHN.
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