December 21, 2002


Rivermen down Kingfish with late goal, 2-1
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release

Peoria scored the game winner with no time on the clock as Jeff Blair made 48 saves for the Kingfish in a 2-1 loss to Peoria.


Despite being outshot 21-13 in the first period, the Kingfish opened the scoring late in the stanza as Trevor Demmans beat Mathieu Chouinard over the catching glove with a slap shot from the high slot at the 17:40 mark of the first period of play. Bryan Richardson and Joe Guenther added the assists on goal.


Peoria tied the contest up at one midway through the third period as Brendan Brooks beat Jeff Blair right along the goal line on the power play. Trevor Baker and Tyler Rennette add the assists on the goal


Peoria scored the game winner with no time remaining on the clock in the final period. Trevor Baker picked up a rebound in front of Blair and lifted it over the goaltender’s glove for the game winner. Darren Clark added an assist on the goal for the Rivermen. The play was set up with an offensive zone draw for the Rivermen with 2.6 seconds remaining in the contest.


Jeff Blair made 48 saves in losing effort and falls to 5-11-4 on the season for the Kingfish. Baton Rouge went 0-6 on the power play while Peoria converted on one of their six power play opportunities.

The Kingfish travel

Peoria Rivermen Press Release

Less than a second was more than enough time for Peoria's Trevor Baker.

With two seconds left on the clock in the third period, the Rivermen won the faceoff deep in the Baton Rouge Kingfish zone. Darren Clark shot the puck toward the net and Baker slipped it by the Kingfish goalie as the final buzzer sounded. 4270 fans at Carver Arena jumped to their feet as the Rivermen got revenge on Baton Rouge, 2-1.

When the game got under way, it looked like Baton Rouge would take control of the game like they did the night before. Kingfish forward Trevor Demmans scored at 17:54 of the first period to put Baton Rouge up 1-0. After a scoreless second period, the Rivermen dominated the third. Midway through the final period, Baker made a sweet behind-the-back pass to a wide-open Brendan Brooks infront of the net. Brooks deposited the puck in the net to even the score at one apiece. It looked as if the game would go into overtime, but Baker made sure it would not. Baker's goal at 19:59 of the third period won the game and sent Carver Arena into a freenzy.

The Rivermen improve to 17-9-2 and remain in second place in the Northwest Division. Rivermen goaltender Mathieu Chouinard played stellar all night long and picked up his seventh win of the season.

 

DATE - 12/21/02     Baton Rouge ( 1) AT Peoria ( 2)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Baton Rouge                1  0  0--1  
Peoria                     0  0  2--2  


FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Baton Rouge-Demmans 4 (Richardson; Paquet) 
17:45. Penalties: Booth, PEO (Slashing), 8:12. Cheredaryk, BR 
(Hooking), 15:08. Rowe, PEO (Interference), 16:17. Kaiman, BR 
(Interference), 16:17. Clark, PEO (Tripping), 16:35. Mathieu, BR 
(Cross checking), 16:35. Gore, BR (Roughing), 19:48. 

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Lawmaster, PEO (Tripping), 
2:32. Gernander, BR (Hooking), 10:16. Belza, PEO (Slashing), 14:20. 
Kaiman, BR (Ten minute misc.), 19:27. 

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Peoria-Brooks 7 (power play) (Baker; 
Rennette) 11:17. 3, Peoria-Baker 8 (game winner) (Clark) 19:59. 
Penalties: Rennette, PEO (Hooking), 4:17. Richardson, BR 
(Unsportsmanlike Cond), 4:17. Finnerty, PEO (Holding), 5:11. 
Mathieu, BR (Board check), 9:26. Peach, BR (Roughing), 13:11. Booth, 
PEO (Ten minute misc.), 14:44. Mathieu, BR (Ten minute misc.), 
14:44. Peach, BR (Holding), 15:41. 

SHOTS ON GOAL
Baton Rouge               13  6  3--22 
Peoria                    21 10 20--51 

Power Play Conversions: Baton Rouge - 0 of 4, Peoria - 1 of 6.
Goalies: Baton Rouge-Blair (51 shots, 49 saves; record: 5-11-3). 
Peoria-Chouinard (22 shots, 21 saves; record: 7-2-0). 
A: 4270.  Referee: Ernst. Linesmen: Kirkiewicz; Carrico.