The Peoria Rivermen turned a feel-good game into a painful experience that left them uncomfortably numb Friday.
The Chicago Wolves got two goals from sniper Brett Sterling in the final 2:05 — including the game-winner with 5.2 seconds left — to wipe out a Peoria lead and beat the Rivermen, 4-3, before 3,762 at Carver Arena.
That crowd was almost too stunned to boo as the Wolves went laughing off the ice. Almost.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Rivermen head coach Rick Wamsley said. “It’s (expletive) unbelievable. Best team in the West and we’re right there with them, ahead of them, for 58 minutes …”
Said newly acquired defenseman Nate Guenin, after his debut with Peoria: “It’s like a bad dream.”
Rivermen veteran Derek Armstrong delivered what appeared to be the game-winner at 5:32 of the third period during a power play. Armstrong, back in the lineup for the first time after missing five games from a concussion, was alone on the back door near the bottom of the left circle, and sent the puck past goaltender Peter Mannino’s outstretched stick for a 3-2 lead.
The clock dwindled down to near two minutes — Mannino was likely just a few seconds from leaving his net empty for an extra attacker — when it all fell apart for the Rivermen.
Sterling, parked on a sharp angle deep in the right circle, fired the puck to the front of the net with 2:05 left, and it hit Peoria winger Chris Porter and disappeared into his equipmemt.
Porter moved, and the puck popped out and plopped into the net.
“Unbelievable,” Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop said.
No, this was unbelievable: With 5.2 seconds left in a now-tie game, the Rivermen appeared to botch a line change and had just four players on the ice as Chicago moved in for a final rush. By the time the fifth player moved off the bench, the Wolves had a three-on-two.
Sterling was alone on the left hashmarks, where he took a pass from Johnny Pohl and ripped it under Bishop’s right arm for the winner.
Before that, the last-place Rivermen were right in the game against the first-place Wolves, who have won 22 of their last 27.
Peoria got a first-period goal from Aaron Palushaj and a second-period net-crashing goal from Julian Talbot.
“We play 57+ great minutes and then we give away the game,” Rivermen All-Star defenseman Jonas Junland said. “It’s just (expletive) horrible. It’s embarrassing.
“It’s like we’re afraid to win games.”
YOU’RE FIRED: Rivermen director of corporate sales/marketing David Rak was fired by the parent club Blues on Friday, as was Rivermen comptroller Karen Doering.
Rak was the longest-tenured member of the AHL club’s business staff, in his seventh season. Three of the top five front office execs for the Rivermen have been fired or left the team since Christmas.
“It was just time for a change,” Blues chief marketing executive and Rivermen president Dave Bullock said. “We’re bringing in some more sales staff, and rebuilding our business team.”
RIVER READINGS: St. Louis Blues head coach Davis Payne was in the house Friday, and shot an episode with Ice Time Online. You can catch it next Wednesday on pjstar.com. … Chicago goaltender Peter Mannino was 5-0-0 with a 1.38 goals-against and .961 saves rate against Peoria this season before Friday’s game. … The Rivermen lost for the first time this season when scoring at least three goals in regulation. … The Rivermen made a move with their crowd emcee as well, replacing Tony Esposito with ticket executive Megan Miller. Miller, 21, is an Illinois State grad from Coal City. … Minnesota Wild director of hockey operations Chris Snow was in attendance.
Dave Eminian can be reached at [email protected] or 686-3206.
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