SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – The Peoria Rivermen (19-10-3) scored once in the first, once in the second and twice in the third while Kyle Rank turned aside 41 shots to beat the Mississippi RiverKings (16-15-2), 4-1, at the Landers Center Friday night. The loss snapped a season-high four-game winning streak for the RiverKings.
Jake Trask staked the Rivermen to a 1-0 lead just 5:28 into the first period with a power-play goal. Alex Hudson got the puck in front of the net and Trask jammed in the rebound to give the Rivermen the advantage. Neither team would score the rest of the first period, despite the RiverKings getting a pair of power plays.
Peoria doubled its lead 2:42 into the second period. Directly off a right circle faceoff win by Josh Harris, Christian Weidauer sent a point shot which found its way through traffic and past Adam Courchaine for a 2-0 lead. Again that would hold as the only goal of the frame so Peoria had a 2-0 lead entering the third.
The RiverKings upped their pressure in the final period but goalie Kyle Rank stood firm. After making a flurry of saves the Rivermen cleared the puck to Mike Gurtler, who snuck behind the defense for a breakaway. He slid a shot between Courchaine’s pads at 9:04 to up the Peoria lead to three. Mississippi ended Rank’s shutout bid with 5:49 remaining in the third. Matt Whitehead scored his 14th goal of the season with a power-play goal between the circles. He received a pass from Leo Thomas and lifted a shot past a sprawling Rank to make it 3-1. The RiverKings would go right back to the power play with a chance to pull within one, but Rank made a few stops and a few minutes later Alec Hagaman scored an empty-net goal with 1:51 remaining to secure a 4-1 Rivermen win.
Notes: Matt Whitehead’s third period power-play goal was his first power-play goal of the season, despite leading the team with 14 goals… Leo Thomas extended his scoring streak to four games (3g, 5a) with his assist on Whitehead’s goal. Thomas was named Easton Player of the Week for his seven points (3g, 4a) in three games last weekend.
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