Peoria Rivermen Edge San Antonio Rampage 5-4 - AHL

PEORIA, Ill. – Hannu Toivonen made 36 saves in regulation but still needed two more in overtime and four in the shootout to propel the Peoria Rivermen to a 5-4 win over the San Antonio Rampage on Thursday night at Carver Arena.  The Rivermen never trailed in their first meeting of the season with San Antonio, holding leads of 3-0 and 4-3 before securing the 5-4 win.
 

Six of Peoria’s first 12 game of the season have now gone past regulation and the Rivermen are 1-1 in overtime and 2-2 in shootouts.  


Brett Sonne’s goal at 14:33 of the third period was the first goal of his professional career and put the Rivermen ahead 4-3.  He was setup by Aaron Palushaj and Steve Wagner who both finished with two assists in the game as they also assisted on Julian Talbot’s first of the season in the second period.  
 

The game featured a 17 minute delay after the lights malfunctioned at Carver Arena and prompted a premature first intermission with 7:19 remaining in the first period.  After an ice cut, the two teams returned to finish the first period and then took just a one minute break in between the first and second periods.
 

Nicholas Drazenovic continued his hot stretch by scoring just 4:41 into the game.  It was his fifth goal of the season and now has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the past five games.  He outraced the Rampage down the ice and snuck one past Al Montoya for an unassisted tally.
 

The first power play for the Rivermen generated a 2-0 lead at 8:10 of the frame.  Jonas Junland fed Brendan Bell along the blue line and Bell stepped in and fired a slap shot through traffic for his second of the season.  For Junland, the assist was his 14th point of the year and he now has a point in 11 of the team’s first 12 games of the year.  
 

Talbot increased the Peoria lead just 2:56 into the second period by banging home a rebound generated from a Palushaj backhand shot.  His first goal of the season came in his 11th game.  Last season, Talbot scored five goals in his first seven games and finished with 20 on the year.  
 

A pair of goals for San Antonio in the closing seconds of the second period set the stage for their late comeback.  Sean Sullivan (18:12) and Joel Perrault (18:50) scored 38 seconds apart to bring the Rampage within one.  Perrault’s second of the game came on a shorthanded breakaway at 13:50 of the third to tie the game.
 

The Rivermen responded on the same power play with a goal to reclaim the lead at 14:33.  Wagner slid the puck to Palushaj in the slot who made a great drop pass off to Sonne crashing down the right side.  Victor Tikhonov scored to re-tie the game with just 2:15 remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.  
 

Palushaj and Talbot scored for Peoria with their first two shots but Colin Long and Matt Beleskey scored on the team’s fourth and fifth shots to force a sixth shooter.  Barry Tallackson sniped one over the shoulder of Montoya before Toivonen stopped Tikhonov to end the game.

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