HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — The Peoria Rivermen rallied three times from one-goal deficits to tie, but a pair of disallowed goals in the second period and a five-on-three power play awarded to Huntsville in the final two minutes of the game sealed their fate Saturday.
The Rivermen faded from a third-period tie to a 6-4 loss to the Huntsville Havoc before 6,006 at Von Braun Center.
Peoria lost three straight for the first time since a six-game losing streak that ended on Feb. 18 of last season. It knocked the Rivermen into a third-place tie with Macon.
Huntsville center Christian Powers notched a hat trick and a +4 outing as Rivermen goaltender Ryan de Melo allowed five goals.
Rivermen center Jacob Barber had three assists, while Mike Gurtler, Will Smith, Jordan Carvalho and Connor Gorman scored the Peoria goals.
"We had very average goaltending, mistakes by key players and, some difficult calls that went against us," Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "But we had guys make mistakes in this game that shouldn't be making mistakes. We put ourselves in a bad position.
"Overall, our forwards played well the last two periods, and we did some things on special teams, blocked some shots. We didn't quite do enough to win."
Gurtler took a long feed from Barber and raced in from the blueline on a breakaway against goaltender Mike DeLaVergne for a 1-1 tie at 15:08 of the first period.
The Rivermen had two goals disallowed in the second period -- one a quick whistle as the puck trickled into the net, the other on a deflection off a high stick -- and in between got a tying goal from Smith on a power play at 4:56.
de Melo stopped a breakaway later in the period off a turnover by Peoria winger Connor Gorman.
The Rivermen climbed into a 3-3 tie at 1:52 of the third period when Barber won a draw in the left circle back to Carvalho, who skated across the zone, circled the back of the net, and buried the puck while on one knee at the bottom of the left circle.
But Huntsville made Peoria pay for another mistake, as Powers took the puck from Dakota Klecha during a Rivermen power play and skated in for a shorthanded breakaway and 4-3 lead at 3:48.
Powers completed a hat trick for a 5-3 lead at 9:28.
The Rivermen got one back from Gorman on a power play at 11:15.
Peoria looked poised to pull de Melo for an extra attacker in a bid to tie, but Will Smith and Ben Oskroba were penalized in the final two minutes to send Huntsville to a five-on-three power play and pre-empt any Rivermen chance. Huntsville added an empty-netter during five-on-five play in those final seconds.
RIVER READINGS: Huntsville had a goal disallowed in the third period, and at one point fans delivered an obscene chant at referee James White. ... Knoxville obliterated Roanoke 10-0 on Saturday. Roanoke goaltender Brad Barone stayed in for all those goals. Knoxville's Berkeley Scott notched four goals and Tyler Palmer was +7. Former Rivermen defenseman Nick Schneider -6 for Roanoke. ... Journal Star 3 Stars: 1 Huntsville, Christian Powers (hat trick, GWG, +4). 2 Huntsville, Sy Nutkevitch (2 assists, +3). 3 Rivermen, Jacob Barber (3 assists).
Dave Eminian covers the Rivermen for the Journal Star. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Check out his videos on Youtube.com/pjstarcom and news items on Twitter @icetimecleve.