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Ice Flyers Set A Single-Game Attendance Record In Saturday’s Loss To Peoria
December 29, 2024
by Bill Vilona, Ice Flyers correspondent
The Ice Flyers didn’t want Peoria jumping to a quick lead, or the Rivermen making the game chippy enough to bring constant retaliation.
Both happened Saturday night as the Rivermen scored three goals on their first five shots, then forced the Ice Flyers into third period full of penalty kills to skate away with a 4-2 win Saturday, before the largest crowd (7,325) for a game without a $5 ticket night in franchise history.
On a Military Appreciation Night, which allowed retired and active military to purchase seats for half-price, plus their family and guests, the massive turnout nearly filled the entire Pensacola Bay Center from floor to ceiling, just under its 8,000 capacity.
The crowd Saturday surpassed a crowd of 7,000-plus last season for a game that did not included the $5 ticket promotion – both of those nights the past several seasons have filled the arena.
They saw Peoria (15-4, 4 OT losses), second place in the current SPHL standings, create just the kind of game the Rivermen wanted.
Playing with only 14 skaters and two goaltenders, the Rivermen didn’t arrive to the Bay Center until nearly 90 minutes before opening faceoff, but their physical, extra-curricular style as the most penalized team in the league, quickly got them into a scrum-fest type of game.
The teams were whistled for a combined 25 penalties for 72 minutes, which included several situations with multiple players from each team in the penalty box.
But the Rivermen jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first 13 minutes, causing Ice Flyers starting goaltender Brody Claeys to be lifted, then answered the Ice Flyers second-period momentum swing with a late goal to cushion their lead at intermission. The third period was when Rivermen goaltender Colby Mulse shined, making 10 saves to seal the win.
Both teams were playing their third game in three nights. The Rivermen had back-to-back games in Birmingham, where they won Friday and lost in overtime Thursday. Three of Ice Flyers past four games had gone into OT, including a shootout loss Friday at Macon.
The Ice Flyers were seeking to flip a script, after Peoria dominated with back-to-back wins (5-0 and 4-1) on Nov. 22-23 in Peoria.
This time, a 3-0 lead became 3-2 less than eight minutes into the second period when the Ice Flyers carried a solid end to the rough first period into Adam Pilotte’s goal at 7:48 into the second period.
But from that point, Peoria shut the door. The Rivermen got a goal from Jordan Ernst, who played for the Ice Flyers during the 2020-21 season and that proved the end of the game’s scoring.
A recap:
FIRST PERIOD
The game began with the Ice Flyers having lopsided edge in shots (20-5) and power play opportunities (7-1) at the first intermission.
But Peoria had a 3-1 lead.
The Rivermen scored goals on three of their first five shots against Ice Flyers goaltender Brody Claeys, including the third one a shorthanded goal. It forced Ice Flyers Head Coach Gary Graham to pull Claeys with 7:20 left in the period, after he endured his worst start of the season.
The Rivermen then did not have another shot on goal the rest of the period, while spending time killing multiple penalties. They racked up 29 minutes on nine penalties. The Ice Flyers had four penalties and three of those shortly followed a Peoria penalty to diminish a power play chance.
The Ice Flyers had three situations of a two-man advantage, the longest one for about a minute, and got their only goal of the period on a power play.
Danny Martin cut into the 3-0 deficit with his first goal as an Ice Flyers player. He was able to get a backhand shot off a rebound in the crease area to score with 5:11 remaining.
Eight more penalties then ensued from that point.
In all, this period took an hour to complete.
SECOND PERIOD
With both teams having a player in the penalty box, Adam Pilotte got the puck from a faceoff in the 4-on-4 situation and rifled a shot into the net from inside the blue line.
This got the packed crowd fully energized. The Ice Flyers had a couple chances for an equalizer in the ensuing minutes. But with 3:06 left before intermission Jordan Ernst was part of group in the crease, got his stick on a loose puck that Ice Flyers goaltender Cody Karpinski couldn’t contain and poked into the net.
That goal seemed to be the most deflating.
THIRD PERIOD
No scoring, but plenty of power plays. The teams combined for eight penalties. The Ice Flyers had five and each one caused them to spend valuable time on a penalty kill, unable to get offense created.
The Ice Flyers pulled Karpinski with 2:20 remaining, following a timeout, and briefly had a two-man advantage that Peoria thwarted to help seal the win.
GAME NOTABLES
The U.S. Marine Corps color guard from Naval Air Station-Whiting Field came onto the ice to present the colors before the National Anthem was sung.
Jackie Biggs, a Pensacola native and senior vice president with Navy Federal, was joined by family for the ceremonial puck drop. She was promoted in March to become Navy Federal’s executive leader for operational campuses.
The Ice Flyers have now drawn 67,409 fans in 11 home games for a 6,128 per-game attendance average. Only the Huntsville Havoc, the league’s first place team, has attracted more fans.
WHAT’S NEXT?
WHO: Ice Flyers at Macon Mayhem
WHEN: Tuesday (New Year’s Eve), 5 p.m. (CST)
WHERE: Macon Centreplex, Macon, Georgia.
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