For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Razmuz Waxin-Engback and Anthony McVeigh each had a goal and an assist and the Knoxville Ice Bears beat the Peoria Rivermen 4-2 Thursday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Jason Price also had two assists for Knoxville (36-9-4), which has won four straight. JM Piotrowski and Mitchell McPherson scored for Peoria (33-7-7), which had a five-game win streak snapped.
Stepan Timofeyev scored the first goal of the game at 13:36 of the opening period. Waxin-Engback lifted the puck from beside his own net high through the neutral zone. The puck bounced off Zach Wilkie’s glove and landed behind him in the zone and Timofeyev chased it down. Timofeyev shrugged off a hold by Wilkie and a slash from Charlie Pelnik before driving in and lifted a backhand past Eric Levine for his 16th goal of the year.
McVeigh added to Knoxville’s lead with less than three minutes remaining in the period with a goal off the left side of the crease. A shot from the perimeter was stopped by Levine and Stefan Brucato tracked it behind the goal line and put it back out in front. Andrew Bellant fed it from the slot through to McVeigh, who poked it out of the air inside the near post to make it 2-0.
Piotrowski redirected a Marcel Godbout shot in front of the crease to cut Knoxville’s lead in half just 30 seconds into the second period.
Waxin-Engback scored off a rebound 25 seconds before the second intermission to give Knoxville a two-goal lead again. Taylor Stefishen’s shot from the slot was blocked by Levine and the puck bounced to the right side for Waxin-Engback to quickly put it back on net on the power play. Waxin-Engback has 13 points in his current seven-game point streak.
McPherson drew Peoria back to within one with just over three minutes left in the game when Jimmy Poreda went behind the net to play the puck on a dump in. The puck took an awkward bounce off the glass and came in front of the open net where McPherson was waiting for it to make the score 3-2.
J.B. Baker scored an empty net goal with 34 seconds left to seal the win for the Ice Bears. Poreda finished with 29 saves in his first game back in Knoxville from a three-month stint in the ECHL. Levine made 13 saves for Peoria.
Knoxville will host Macon Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. in a makeup game from December. Fans with tickets to the original game are able to use those tickets for the new date on Sunday. Additional tickets or information is available by calling 525-7825 or visiting www.knoxvilleicebears.com.
ABOUT The Knoxville Ice Bears: The Knoxville Ice Bears organization began in 2002 and was an inaugural charter member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in 2004. As four-time SPHL Champions, the Ice Bears are an experienced and established organization, offering the city and its’ visitors a balanced product of highlight-reel hockey, unique and exciting intermission activity and endless fan interaction, presenting the most affordable, family-friendly way to enjoy sports and entertainment. Season, Partial Season and Flex Tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleicebears.com or call (865) 525-7825.
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