Canada and the U.S. battled for Olympic gold on television monitors throughout Carver Arena on Sunday as some of the 3,870 spectators gathered to watch.
Some had given up on the game that played out on the ice below, where the Peoria Rivermen failed to show much mettle, yielding a pair of goals in the second and third periods to fall to the Milwaukee Admirals, 4-0.
That followed a tough loss in Rockford on Saturday night, in which the Rivermen carried a 1-0 lead to the final 11.4 seconds before allowing a six-on-four tying goal, then went on to a shootout loss.
The San Antonio Rampage left last place in the West Division to the Rivermen with a victory Sunday against Texas.
Peoria played a good first period against Milwaukee. The game opened with a fight between Rivermen winger Ryan Reaves and Admirals enforcer Tristan Grant 7 seconds after faceoff.
It moved on to controversy while the penalties were being assessed, as the Rivermen challenged Milwaukee’s lineup card. The card showed defenseman Robert Dietrich’s name was spelled wrong, as “Deitrich” and, under the rules, that made the player ineligible.
Dietrich was tossed, and Milwaukee head coach Lane Lambert moved down the bench toward the Rivermen, jawing with Peoria head coach Rick Wamsley. Lambert engaged Wamsley and the Peoria bench again at game’s end.
“There’s gamesmanship, and there’s going beyond that,” Lambert said. “And that, to me, went beyond the line. But our goaltender kept us in it in the first period, and we stuck to the plan, and we out-worked them in the third period.”
Said Wamsley: “I don’t like the (lineup card) rule. It’s a stupid rule. It puts pressure on them to spell every name right. It puts pressure on us to check it. But this is pro hockey, not midgets. It’s my job to challenge and I did it.”
The Rivermen, meanwhile, out-shot Milwaukee 14-3 in the period and twice nearly scored. Defenseman Danny Richmond hit a post for the second time in as many nights, and rookie Aaron Palushaj’s shot on the fly from the left circle hit the crossbar.
“I went low blocker,” Palushaj said. “It bounced off his blocker, rolled up and bounced off his shoulder, dropped onto the crossbar and rolled along the top of the crossbar, then dropped onto the ice in front of the goal line.
“I guess all we can do is keep working, keep going.”
The Rivermen went away after that. Milwaukee got second-period goals from Reid Cashman and Mark Santorelli, then put the game out of reach in the third with goals from Nick Spaling at 9:22 and Ryan Maki at 13:01.
“We had a great first period,” said Rivermen winger Chris Porter, who tied Spaling for a game-high six shots. “But we got untracked, and by the time we started playing well again it was too late.”
RIVER READINGS: Rivermen veteran winger-center Derek Armstrong was called-up by the St. Louis Blues after the game. … Rivermen defenseman Tyson Strachan had the upper part of his stick wrapped with special Canadian flag tape, in honor of the gold medal Olympic tilt between USA and Canada. … Rivermen winger Barry Tallackson had USA tape on his stick. … Rivermen defenseman Bryce Lampman (concussion) did not play. … Peoria defenseman Jonas Junland (middle body injury) missed the game. … St. Louis Blues assistant general manager, director of pro scouting and Rivermen GM Kevin McDonald was on hand. … Vancouver scout Scott Mellanby was in attendance.
Dave Eminian can be reached at [email protected] or 686-3206.
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