February 8, 2003


Rivermen Sink Kingfish, 5-3
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release

Bryan Richardson’s record breaking 104th goal as a Kingfish and 39 saves by Niklas Sundberg were not enough as the Kingfish fell to Peoria, 5-3.

Clark Jones opened the scoring as he tallied his eighth goal of the season at the 6:16 mark of the first period of play to give the Kingfish a 1-0 lead as he beat Duane Derksen through the five hole. Bryan Richardson took a pass from Tom Kaiman and fed Jones streaking to the front of the net to set up the goal.

Peoria tied the game at one as Arvid Rekis hooked up with randy Rowe and Tyler Rennette on the power play at the 18:02 mark of the first period.

The Kingfish regained the lead as Peoria goaltender Derksen lost sight of Trevor Demmans’ flip shot from the point at the 11:08 mark of the second period of play. Marquis Mathieu added an assist on the goal.

Just 16 seconds later, Peoria tied the game at two as Tyler Rennette beat Sundberg as he slipped the puck past the netminder. Derek Booth and Brendan Brooks added the assists on the goal.

Peoria took the lead for good with 16 seconds left in the second period as Brooks beat Sundberg from the high slot to give the Rivermen the 3-2 lead. Darren Clark and Scott Crawford set up Brooks on the play.

Greg Day extended Peoria’s lead to two as he punched the puck past Sundberg at the 3:23 mark of the third period. Randy Rowe and Randy Copley added the assists on the Rivermen goal.

With two minutes left in the third, the Kingfish went on the power play and tried to gain a two-man advantage as they pulled Niklas Sundberg in favor of an extra attacker.

Peoria took advantage of the empty net as Rowe found the back of the net with 42 seconds left in the final period. Jason Lawmaster and Ryan Finnerty added the assists on the goal.

Bryan Richardson cut the Peoria lead to two as he won an offensive zone draw and slipped through the Peoria defense and beat Derkson over the shoulder for the unassisted goal with five seconds left in the third.

With the goal, Richardson now holds the Kingfish career mark for most goal as he netted his 104th goal in a Baton Rouge uniform.

The Kingfish host the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Thursday at the Centroplex at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the action on Baton Rouge’s Best R & B, 104.5 WZRB beginning with the Kingfish pre game show beginning at 6:50 p.m.


Rivermen Sink Kingfish, Derksen wins 3rd Straight
Rivermen Press Release

The Peoria Rivermen stayed in first place in the ECHL following a 5-3 win at Baton Rouge on Saturday night. Peoria came from two one-goal deficits to score four unanswered goals enroute to their 34th win of the season and 17th on the road. Tyler Rennette tied the game with his team-high 31st goal in the 2nd period and Brendan Brooks broke that tie with just 16 seconds left in the same period. For Brooks it was his 17th goal of the season. In the third period Greg Day notched his 12th goal for Peoria at 3:23 for a 4-2 Rivermen lead. Randy Rowe made it 5-2 with a shorthanded tally with only 42 seconds left in regulation. It was Randy’s 16th score of the year. In goal for the Rivermen was veteran Duane Derkson winning his 3rd straight and first since a January 11 win at Greensboro.

Peoria has now won nine of their last 10 road games and is 9-1-1 overall in its’ last 11 games heading into idle Mississippi on Sunday. The first place Rivermen retained the spot via the win and a Toledo loss at Atlantic City. The Mississippi SeaWolves come into Sunday’s game with a record of 28-18-4 and entered Saturday night tied with Arkansas for 2nd place in the SW Division. The SeaWolves are coming off a 7-game road trip, where they posted a 2-5-0 mark, which includes a 3-2 win in Peoria.

After Sunday the Rivermen return home to play 11 of their next 12 games. Peoria’s next home game is Friday, February 14 when they host Wheeling. The special promotion for that night is Wedding on Ice, as five couples take the plunge at Center Ice.
 

DATE - 02/08/03     Peoria ( 5) AT Baton Rouge ( 3)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Peoria                     1  2  2--5  
Baton Rouge                1  1  1--3  


FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Baton Rouge-Jones 8 (Richardson; Kaiman) 
6:16. 2, Peoria-Rekis 4 (power play) (Rowe; Rennette) 18:02. 
Penalties: Jacobson, BR (Holding), 16:44. 

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Baton Rouge-Demmans 7 (Mathieu) 11:08. 4, 
Peoria-Rennette 31 (Booth; Brooks) 11:24. 5, Peoria-Brooks 17 (Clark; 
Crawford) 19:44. Penalties: Rennette, PEO (Cross checking), 6:34. 
Crawford, PEO (High sticking), 12:00. 

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Peoria-Day 12 (game winner) (Rowe; Copley) 
3:23. 7, Peoria-Rowe 16 (short handed) (empty net) (Lawmaster; 
Finnerty) 19:18. 8, Baton Rouge-Richardson 24 (power play) 
(unassisted) 19:55. Penalties: Tucker, BR (Tripping), 12:48. Kern, 
PEO (Hooking), 18:09. 

SHOTS ON GOAL
Peoria                    20 16  8--44 
Baton Rouge                3 10  8--21 

Power Play Conversions: Peoria - 1 of 2, Baton Rouge - 1 of 3.
Goalies: Peoria-Derksen (21 shots, 18 saves; record: 10-7-1). 
Baton Rouge-Sundberg (43 shots, 39 saves; record: 4-5-2). 
A: 2512.  Referee: Thul. Linesmen: ; .