PEORIA, IL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (1-2-1) overcame a late comeback attempt by the Peoria Rivermen (1-0-2) en route to a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday night at Carver Arena. Johnny Macdonald scored the game-winning goal, while Ryan Hunter, Nick Ford, and Mac Jansen also scored for the Dawgs.
Unlike the night before, it was Peoria that enjoyed the quick start on Saturday night. An early 2-on-1 chance allowed Carlos Fornaris to fire the puck into the Roanoke cage at 6:53 to push the Rivermen ahead. Both teams would come up empty on their first power play chances, but the Dawgs would find a tying goal late in the frame. After winning a board battle down low, Roanoke’s Curtis Abbott slipped a pass to the slow slot to Hunter, and the winger blasted the puck to the top right corner of the net at 18:32. A late penalty in the period would keep Roanoke on the penalty kill on the other side of the intermission, but it was a 1-1 game after 20 minutes.
The Dawgs got rolling in the second period. After beginning the frame with a second successful penalty kill for the night, Roanoke got its own power play chance at the 0:54 mark. The Dawgs didn’t score on the man-advantage, but a go-ahead tally for Ford would follow quickly after the action returned to full strength. Macdonald smacked a from the blue line that Ford redirected for his first goal of the season at 3:16 to push the visitors in front. The Dawgs found success on the power play later in the frame, as Jansen smashed home the rebound on Matt O’Dea’s shot at 15:48 to make it 3-1 for Roanoke. That score would hold heading into the final period of regulation.
Peoria quickly went to work on tying the score, and it didn’t take long early in the third period. Alec Baer somehow lit the lamp on a tight-angle shot from the left wing just 29 seconds into the frame, and a saved shot by Peoria’s Renat Dadadzhanov went in off of a Roanoke skate at 3:30 to tie the scorea at 3-all. Both teams would have other chances in regulation, but overtime was needed to decide the second standings point. After notching the first four shots of overtime, Macdonald took a 2-on-1 rush for himself and squeezed the puck under Peoria goaltender Troy Kobryn to give the Dawgs their first victory of the season. The win snapped what was a 14-game regular season home winning streak for Peoria, handing the Rivermen their first loss at Carver Arena since January 14 of last season.
Austyn Roudebush saved 31-of-34 shots faced in net for Roanoke, and Kobryn turned away 29-of-33 shots in the crease for Peoria. Peoria went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Roanoke went 1-for-7 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will return home on Friday, November 1 against the Pensacola Ice Flyers at Berglund Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Stephen Blue