PEORIA, IL – A pair of first period Louisiana goals and a couple of Peoria tallies in the third led the Rivermen and IceGators to overtime where Louisiana scored a powerplay tally to win 3-2 at Carver Arena Friday night. The loss drops Peoria to 5-2-1 on the season with two games remaining in the current series against Louisiana.
The IceGators opened the scoring 5:23 into period number one as Stephen Buco put a one-timer from the left circle past Rivermen goalie Kyle Rank for a 1-0 lead. Louisiana extended their lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first as Geordie Wudrick chipped in a bouncing puck to give Louisiana a 2-0 advantage.
The game was scoreless through the remainder of the first and all of the second period before the Rivermen got on the board with 11:52 to play in regulation. At the 8:08 mark Dan Bremner put a puck past IceGators goaltender Adam Courchaine from point blank range for the 2-1 score. The Rivermen tied the game with 2:20 left as Luke Sandler beat Courchaine during a scramble in front of the net to tie the game 2-2 and send it to overtime.
The IceGators scored the game winner in overtime on the powerplay after a slashing penalty against Sadler with 49 seconds left in regulation extended into overtime. With five seconds left on the penalty to Sandler the IceGators won a faceoff in the Rivermen zone and Jake Hauswirth walked into the slot and beat Rank at 1:08 of the extra frame to win the game 3-2.
Rank stopped 17 of 20 shots faced to drop his season record to 3-2-1. The Rivermen out-shot the IceGators 49-20 as Courchaine made 47 saves for Louisiana.
Some interesting notes – Sandler’s goal was the first of his pro career in his sixth career game. The loss is Peoria’s first overtime defeat of the season in their third extra-time contest. The road team has now won all four meetings between the Rivermen and IceGators this season with five more games left between the two squads, all in Peoria.
The Rivermen and IceGators resume their series with the second of three from Carver Arena Saturday night at 7:05…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 at portal.stretchinternet.com/rivermen
Text provided by Peoria Rivermen Media Release
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