The Peoria Rivermen are thankful the month of February is behind them, although the leap year in 2008 extended the troubles one more day as the Grand Rapids Griffins handed the hometown team a 4-2 loss Friday night.
Peoria surrendered two first period power play goals to Ryan Oulahen and Carl Corazzini, falling behind 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.
Trent Whitfield picked off a puck behind the Grand Rapids goal and fed it out in front to Julian Talbot, who scored on his own rebound at 17:20 to make it a 2-1 game after the second.
Jamie Tardiff scored the eventual game-winning goal at 5:12 from Kyle Quincey and Randall Gelech, beating Chris Beckford-Tseu (19 saves) with a shot from the left point over his right shoulder.
Whitfield closed the gap to 3-2 with a power play goal on a shot from the left point that beat a screened Jimmy Howard (41 saves) at 15:32 after Talbot won the faceoff straight back on the draw.
Peoria pressed for the equalizer with Beckford-Tseu on the bench and a power play in the game’s final minute, but Mark Cullen put the game away with a shorthanded empty net goal at 19:54 to seal the contest.
Grand Rapids finished the game by going 2-for-7 on the power play while Peoria ended with one goal on nine power play attempts.
The Rivermen get back to game action tomorrow night on Goodwill Night and WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame Night. Join George “The Animal” Steele, Sgt. Slaughter, and Nikolai Volkoff as they sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans from 6 – 8:30 pm. Also, the Rivermen are giving every fan who donates clothing and/or shoes to Goodwill at tomorrow’s game a coupon for a free Coke at the contest! Finally, 5,000 Peoria Air National Guard Rivermen team posters will be handed out to fans attending the game.
Tickets are on sale now through the Peoria Civic Center Box Office, all TicketMaster locations, on line at www.TicketMaster.com, or charge by phone at (309) 676-8700. See you at the games!
