After an impressive 4-1 win against Chicago on Friday, the Peoria Rivermen were shutout Saturday and Sunday by the first place Charlotte Checkers.

Oct. 26 – W 4-1 vs. Chicago | HIGHLIGHTS
The Rivermen offense came to life in the third period against the Chicago Wolves (Vancouver Canucks) in a 4-1 win Friday night at Carver Arena. Peoria fell behind early in the second frame after Jordan Schroeder scored his first goal of the season to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Anthony Peluso, Evgeny Grachev, Derek Nesbitt, and Jaden Schwartz all added goals over a 12:19 stretch of the third period with Grachev getting the game-winning tally. Jake Allen stopped 32 shots in the victory. Both teams finished with 33 shots on goal and went 0-for-3 on the power play.

Oct. 27 – L 4-0 vs. Charlotte | HIGHLIGHTS
Peoria lost their first home game of the season 4-0 against the Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes) Saturday night at Carver Arena. Checkers’ goalie Dan Ellis stopped all 27 Rivermen shots he faced while St. Louis native Mike McKenna allowed four goals on 35 shots in his first start for Peoria. Drayson Bowman scored his sixth goal of the year midway through the first period to give Charlotte a one-goal lead. Jeremy Welsh scored the next two goals and Zac Dalpe added another one on the power play late in the third. Charlotte went 2-for-6 on the man advantage.

Oct. 28 – L 6-0 vs. Charlotte | HIGHLIGHTS
Brett Sutter scored three goals and Justin Peters stopped 19 shots in Charlotte’s 6-0 win over the Rivermen Sunday night at Carver Arena. Rasmus Rissanen, Michal Jordan, Jerome Samson and Justin Krueger each earned two assists in the Checkers’ sixth victory of the year. Zac Boychuk, Nicholas Blanchard, and Drayson Bowman also scored goals in addition to Sutter’s hat trick. Allen made 29 saves in the loss. Charlotte went 2-for-2 on the power play while Peoria failed to score on their one power play opportunity.

Rivermen Notes

• This weekend was the first time the Rivermen have been shut out in back-to-back home games since joining the AHL in 2005.
• After scoring four goals in 61 games last season, Anthony Peluso has already tallied three goals in just seven contests this year. He also currently leads the Rivermen with a plus/minus rating of plus-2.
• Through seven games, T.J. Hensick (2G, 3A) and Derek Nesbitt (1G, 4A) lead the Rivermen in points with five.
• Peoria has only scored once on the power play this season (of 4.2 percent). They have killed off 72.4 percent of the power plays against them.
• After three ECHL games with the Evansville IceMen, Anthony Nigro was recalled on Monday to the Rivermen. He has yet to appear in an AHL game this season following an injury he suffered during Peoria’s first pre-season game (Oct. 1). Last season he accumulated 25 points (13G, 12A) in 75 games.
• The Rivermen have a 2-2-0 record on their current six-game homestand that will conclude on Saturday against the Milwaukee Admirals.

The Rivermen will be home against the Lake Erie Monsters on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. That game can be heard live on Sirius/XM’s NHL Network Radio (Sirius #207, XM #92). All games can be heard on CD Country 107.9 FM. For game updates follow @rivsgameday on Twitter.