PEORIA, IL —
3G, 2A, +5
2G, 2A, +4
60:00, 19Sv, 1 GA
Those are the stat lines from Peoria Rivermen Mike Gurtler, Connor Toomey and David Jacobson from Friday night’s 6-1 win over the Columbus Cottonmouths. Gurtler’s hat trick came as the Rivermen tied the SPHL record for wins and points in a season in front of 4017 fans…and there is still one more game left in the regular season – against these same Cottonmouths – left to play on Saturday.
In the first minute of the game Connor Toomey was on the doorstep trying to jam the puck between the pads of Columbus goaltender Brandon Jaeger. Toomey was denied but the puck was loose. Mike Gurtler corralled the puck and needed two chances to find the twine at 1:01 of the first period, staking the Rivermen to an early 1-0 lead.
As the first period was winding down, Gurtler, Toomey and Wintoneak broke into the offensive zone with a man advantage. This time Gurtler dished and Toomey finished to give the home team the 2-0 lead just three-and-a-half seconds before the Zamboni’s took over.
Toomey and Gurtler teamed up in the secon period with Chris Wilson to play three men and a puck after a defensive turnover by Columbus. Wilson conveyed the puck to Toomey who finished the play, giving Peoria a 3-0 lead at 4:52 of the second period.
A mental lapse by Jaeger led to a 4-0 Rivermen lead. The goalie went into traffic behind the net to play the puck during a power play. Steve Morra kocked the puck out of the scrum and into the crease, where Cody Dion was skating by. Dion tapped the puck at 15:50 of the second for the power play goal. Less than a minute later Gurtler made it 5-0 from Ben Oskroba and Alec Hagaman and the route was on. Gurtler with the hat trick at 4:32 of the thrid period making it 6-0. Wilson and Toomey on the assists.
After more than 8 periods of shutout hockey, Alex Pompeo finally solved Rivermen netminder David Jacobson.
Columbus went 0-2 on the power play. Peoria was 1-3.
NOTES: In a very baffling move, officals allowed a 3 minutes penalty during the game. Rivermen Dave Pszenyczny was assessed a 5 minutes major and a game misconduct for Spearing. Parick McCadden of Columbus received a 2 minute minor for Unsportsmanlike Conduct on the same play. After conferring, the penalty stood at 3 minutes.
You may contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com or follow him on Twitter @SLBatPHN .
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