PEORIA, Ill – Ryan Reaves scored two goals and led the Peoria Rivermen to victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins on an icy Saturday night at Peoria’s Carver Arena. A crowd of 5342 braved the snow and ice to see Reaves fight early in the game and then go on to score twice, including the game winner in the third period. It was the first time Reaves has ever scored twice in a game in his pro career.
Thirty-three seconds after the opening face-off Greg Amadio and Reaves had a short bout. That action took place in front of the Grand Rapids goaltender Thomas McCollum and mostly involved Reaves ripping off Amadio’s helmet and punching him a few times in the head before Amadia was forced to the ice.
Adam Cracknell followed that, opening the scoring a minute fifteen seconds later. Cracknell came in on McCollum’s left, switched hands and crossed in front of the crease to slip in a backhanded shot under the goalie’s glove. Chris Porter and David Spina assistd on the play that put the Rivermen up 1-0.
At the 9:25 mark Phil McRae dug the puck from out behind the net and passed up to Nicholas Drazenovic at the bottom of the slot. Drazenovic had no shot, but Reaves came charging hard from the top of the circle. Drazenovic shoveled the puck in front of Reaves, who surprised McCollum with a shot over his glove for a 2-0 Rivermen lead.
Six seconds after the Reaves goal, Adam Cracknell and Amadio squared off for a brief tilt, again in front of McCollum. Amadio lost his helmet and the two exchanged a few punches before Cracknell lost his footing. Cracknell received an extra minor penalty for roughing.
Jamie Tardiff opened the scoring for the visiting Griffins when, in the second period, he one-timed a pass from Jamie Johnson past Ben Bishop’s stick from the left face-off dot to close Rivermen advantage to 2-1 4:04 into the second frame. That would be the only scoring in a period that also featured no penalties.
The Rivermen went up 3-1 just 23 seconds into the third period when Phil McRae moved through traffic looking for a shot and couldn’t find one. After reaching the slot, he deftly left a drop pass for Reaves, who was, again, coming in off the point. Reaves gathered the puck, firing over McCollum’s glove for the goal. Dean Arsene was credited with an assist, as well.
At 16:14 of the third period, with Cracknell sitting in the box, Bishop went behind the net to play the puck. An ill-advised pass to the front of the net came just as Tardiff was skating in front of the crease. He gathered the puck and buried in open net to cut the Rvermen lead to one. That would be the last of the scoring and Grand Rapids was unable to pull McCollum for an extra attacker until the final second of the game.
Bishop had the win, stopping 21 of 23 shots while McCollum took the loss, stopping 26 of 29. The Griffins did have one powerplay goal, going 1 of 4 during the man-advantage. The Rivermen did not score during their only abbreviated power play opportunity.
These same two teams meet again, in Michigan on Friday and then again in Peoria next Saturday.
Contact the author: Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com
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