Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen pushed their winning streak to five games and extended their lead in the SPHL standings on Saturday night in front of 4397 by defeating the Huntsville Havoc, 5-2.
Jacob Barber led the way for the Rivermen, scoring twice and assisting on another goal 
while Eric Lavine was solid in goal again for Peoria.
Peoria sored first at 5:27 of the first period while on the power play. After pressuring for almost two minutes, Barber sent a perfect pass to Cody Dion, whose one-timer through Havoc goalie Keegan Asmundson’s five-hole put the Rivermen up 1-0.
Huntsville took control of the period shortly thereafter, holding the Peoria shotless for over ten minutes. They evened the game at 8:44 of the first period on a goal by Jack Ceglarski; Peter Sikalis and Stuart Stfan pocketed assists on the tying goal.
Peoria worked hard during the second period taking the momentum back, bit by bit and it culminated in a wild 16th minute.
Barber swept down the slot behind Jordan Carvalho. At the bottom of the circle, Carvalho slid the puck to the top of the crease and Barber shoveled it over Asmundson’s stick for the 2-1 lead at 16:02. Add an assist to Levine on that play, as well.
Thirty-five seconds later, Dave Pszenyczy’s shot from the top of the circle found a way through the crowd and pushed the Rivermen lead to 3-1. Alex Hagaman and Kevin Patterson assisted on the goal.
The Havoc were blessed with a power play early in the third period and took immediate advantage. Levine stopped three straight shot, but on the third, his body was inside the net and Christian Powers had pulled the Havoc back to within a goal just 48 seconds into the period.
With an empty-net goal, Dakota Klecha finished the scoring at 19:11 of third period, giving him four goals on the weekend. Levine was very good, again, for the Rivermen, with 29 saves on 31 shots. His record climbs to 8-1-0. Asmundson stopped 24 of 28 shots as his record slips to 5-4-0.
Both teams scored on the power play once – Peoria in six chances while allowing only four chances to the Havoc.
NOTES: Scott Trask took a heavyweight beat-down from Cody Dion late in the third oeriod. The fight was actually started by Havoc goalie Keegan Asmundson, who was not penalized…Peoria scored ten goals in the weekend series against Huntsville…The Rivermen wore special Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jerseys that were auctioned off after the game.
Contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com, or follow him on Twitter @SLBatPHN
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