MOLINE, IL – The Peoria Rivermen scored twice in each period and cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Quad City Storm Saturday in a game that included 199 combined penalty minutes and 16 total power plays. The win, Peoria’s seventh in a row, improves Peoria to 16-1-3 on the season before next weekend’s pair of games at Huntsville.
Peoria took the lead with a pair of goals in the first period, the first coming on the power play following a sequence in which Storm winger Al Graves was ejected 62 seconds into the contest, issued a fighting major and game misconduct after attacking Peoria captain Alec Hagaman.
Quad City got on the board with a goal on their own power play at 9:06 of the second period when Storm center Mitch Mueller’s knuckleball eluded the glove of Peoria goaltender Storm Phaneuf.
Peoria jumped to a 4-1 lead with a pair of goals 2:26 apart late in the second period, when Joseph Widmar and Alec Hagaman finished wristers from the slot, the latter on a power play, past Quad City goaltender Peter Di Salvo.
The Rivermen scored twice more in the first half of the third period when Mike Gurtler roofed a shot over Di Salvo’s shoulder and Vincent Beaudry’s wrister from the high slot rang in off the post at 4:47 and 8:58 of the third, respectively, for a 6-1 Rivermen lead.
A sequence ensued at 16:08 of the third period which saw five players issued game misconducts and 85 total minutes in penalties handed out. Storm winger Phil Bronner was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for charging and an additional fighting major after colliding with Phaneuf and scrapping with Rivermen defenseman Ralfs Grinbergs. Storm winger Joe McKeown and Peoria winger Austin Vieth were also ejected, as were both goaltenders as Di Salvo and Phaneuf fought in the Quad City zone and were each given game misconducts.
Phaneuf earned the win in net to improve to 6-0-1 on the season. Phaneuf also earned his second career fighting major after he scrapped with Knoxville’s Tyler Howe December 16 of last season.
Game recap provided by official SPHL media release
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