MOLINE, IL – The Peoria Rivermen got a pair of goals in the second period and 21 saves in net from Stephen Klein as they topped the Quad City Storm 3-1 at the TaxSlayer Center Friday night. The win, Peoria’s sixth in a row, lifts Peoria to 15-1-3 on the season before tomorrow’s rematch at Quad City.
The Storm opened the scoring with an even-strength tally early in the opening period. Quad City defenseman Cody Walsh’s stretch pass from behind his own net found teammate Dalton Mills in the neutral zone. Mills’ drop pass was collected and carried into the left wing of the Rivermen zone by Storm winger John Scully, whose wrister from the left circle beat the blocker of Rivermen netminder Stephen Klein for a 1-0 lead at 4:27 of the first.
The Rivermen tied the game when they got on the board nearly midway through the second period. Rivermen defenseman Ben Oskroba collected a rebound on the left-wing half boards of the Quad City zone, wound up, and fired a slap shot past former teammate and Quad City goaltender Eric Levine for a 1-1 score at 8:46 of the middle frame.
Peoria took the lead for good with the eventual game-winner at the 18:20 mark of the second period. Rivermen defenseman Nick Neville held the puck at the left point of the Storm zone, hesitated, then sent a pass to the low right wing, where Austin Vieth dunked it by Levine for a 2-1 Rivermen lead.
The Rivermen and Storm remained scoreless through the first 19:50 of the third until Peoria netted an empty-net goal in the final seconds of regulation. With Levine on the bench for an extra attacker, Rivermen defenseman Guillaume Naud slipped the puck out of the left wing of his own zone and down the length of the ice. Peoria winger Mike Gurtler beat the Storm defense to the puck, took it out of the right corner, and stuffed it into the empty net for the 3-1 final score.
Klein stopped 21 of 22 shots faced to earn the victory in net, improving to 8-1-0 on the season. The victory is Klein’s third straight dating back to a December 9 shutout of Huntsville.
Game recap courtesy of official SPHL media release
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