The Rivermen played their sixth three-games in three-day series this past weekend before returning home for a week of practice. Peoria is now 12-14-1-1 through 28 games – the most in the Western Conference. The Rivermen are tied with Chicago for third place in the Midwest Division with 26 points and tied for seventh in the Western Conference with Chicago and Rochester.

Dec. 9 – L 3-1 at Oklahoma City
Brett Sterling capitalized on a power play late in the first period to give Peoria a 1-0 lead, but Oklahoma City countered with three unanswered goals in the final nine minutes of regulation. Both teams finished the game 1-for-2 on the power play while Ben Bishop stopped 31 of 33 shots on goal. The Rivermen only registered 21 shots on goal (a season low), 12 of which were in the first period.

Dec. 10 – L 2-1 at San Antonio
Once again, the Rivermen recorded the game’s first goal but failed to come out on top. Anthony Nigro scored at 8:44 in the second period but the Rampage tied the game just 24 seconds later. Peoria was scoreless on three power plays while San Antonio went 1-for-5 on the man advantage. Jake Allen stopped 37 of 39 shots on goal whereas opposing goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris made 21 saves on 22 shots. The Rivermen had just nine shots on goal in the second and third periods combined.

Dec. 11 – SOW 3-2 at Houston
Team points-leader T.J. Hensick registered his ninth goal of the year just 6:39 into the first period before Houston answered with two of their own. Hensick returned to the score sheet at 5:02 of the third period with an assist on a Derek Nesbitt goal to force overtime and eventually a shootout. After both teams scored twice through five attempts, Phil McRae sealed the win with a goal in the sixth round of the shootout. The Rivermen finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play while Houston was scoreless on five attempts. Bishop stopped 29 of 31 shots in addition to four of six Aeros’ shootout attempts. For the third time this weekend, Peoria’s shot total in the first period (18) outweighed their second and third period shot totals combined (12).

Rivermen Report

• T.J. Hensick remains tied for third among the league-leaders in points with 39 (9g, 24a). His 24 assists also rank third in the league.
• Although he missed five games while playing for St. Louis, Brett Sterling is currently tied for 10th in points in the AHL with 26 (13g, 13a). His 13 goals are tied with several players for fifth-best.
• Rookie defenseman Cade Fairchild maintained his league lead in plus-minus at +18 following last weekend’s games.
• Defenseman Danny Syvret added two more assists last weekend which improved his point total to 19 (2g, 17a) which is third best in the league. Syvret is also tied with Norfolk’s Mark Barberio in power-play assists among defensemen with 11 and ranks second in power-play points at 12.
• Two of Peoria’s four goals this weekend came on the power play. The Rivermen now rank seventh in the AHL in power-play scoring at 21.0%. The penalty kill, however, ranks 15th at 82.4%.

Transactions

• Dec. 7 – Evgeny Grachev (LW) loaned from St. Louis (NHL)
• Dec. 9 – Peter MacArthur (LW) released from PTO

The Rivermen will practice in Peoria this week before leaving for traveling to Rockford for the start of a three games in three days stretch.

Fri., Dec. 16 @ Rockford – 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 17 vs. Toronto – 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 18 @ Milwaukee – 5:00 p.m.