EVANSVILLE, IND. — The Peoria Rivermen delivered a knockout shot with a four-goal second period, then spent the rest of the game on the ropes Saturday in a rematch against Evansville.
The Rivermen gave up four goals in the third period but hung on to beat the Evansville Thunderbolts, 5-4, for the second straight night before 3,380 at Ford Center.
Justin Greenberg notched two goals for the Rivermen, Mark Petaccio netted two for Evansville, and Peoria jumped up into a second-place tie in the SPHL race with Evansville and Macon in another poorly officiated game by referee Steven Sailor. The Rivermen host Evansville on Sunday in a third straight head-to-head match.
"We did a lot of good things in that second period, and despite the third period we have to remember that it was win, on the road, against the second-place team in the league," Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "But we have very high expectations for how we play. And tonight, our guys simply didn't show up in that third period. Stopped skating, didn't do anything, and then the officiating got involved and we gave up two power play goals.
"We didn't like the path we took in the third period, but we'll take the end result."
The Rivermen broke up a scoreless tie 94 seconds into the second period when newly-acquired Keegan Bruce charged down the left side of the Evansville zone and sent a pass to the net, which Greenberg deflected past goaltender Jonah Imoo as he arrived.
Peoria center Joe Widmar picked the puck out of the skates of Evansville winger Dave Williams at the Bolts blueline, gained the zone with a spin move, skated to the right circle and sent a diagonal pass to the left post. Mike Economos and Mike Gurtler arrived together and Gurtler knocked it in at 10:17 for 2-0.
Defenseman Cody Smith made it 3-0 on a dazzling unassisted effort at 12:14. He cut off a clearing attempt at the right point, skated down the right boards, cut around the defense and to the doorstep and wrapped the puck between Imoo's right pad and the left post.
The Rivermen closed out the period with a 4-0 lead when Greenberg, parked below the hashmarks on a power play, gently pooched a pass from Will Smith past Imoo's stick with 38 seconds left.
But Evansville out-shot the Rivermen 21-7 in a white-knuckle third period, getting power plays goals from John Scorcia and Dylan Clarke, and a pair from Petaccio, the last of which was with the net empty for an extra attacker with 20.5 seconds left.
The Rivermen saved the game in between Petaccio's two late goals when winger Ryan Siiro produced the game-winner at 17:37 on a play in which he whiffed on the puck above the hasmarks, spun around, regained control, walked to the net, forced a bouncing shot and then put back his own rebound.
RIVER READINGS: Rivermen winger Cody Dion did not play, and afterward the team reported he suffered a broken hand in Friday's game. He's expected to miss the next six weeks. ... The SPHL quickly placed Evansville call-up enforcer Nick Wright on indefinite suspension Saturday morning, pending review, after his antics and ejection in Friday's game at Peoria. ... Peoria added winger Joe McKeown to the lineup. ... The Rivermen plan to give veteran goaltender Peter Di Salvo his Peoria debut Sunday in a rematch against Evansville at Carver Arena. ... Journal Star 3 Stars: 1 Rivermen, Justin Greenberg (2 goals, +2). 2 Evansville, Mark Petaccio (2 goals). 3 Rivermen, Ryan Siiro (GWG). ... The Rivermen four-goal second period marked the most goals allowed by Evansville in a single period this season.
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.