From a Toronto Marlies Press Release:

The Marlies return to Ricoh Coliseum proved to be their most disappointing home-result of 2006 as they fell by a 6-4 score to the Peoria Rivermen on Friday evening in Toronto. After concluding a ten-game road trip by garnering 12 of a possible 20 points last Sunday afternoon in Lowell, the Marlies were unable to keep a three-game home winning streak alive in losing at Ricoh for the first time since a 4-2 defeat to the Binghamton Senators on December 27th.

Toronto opened the scoring when John Pohl scored on the power-play at 5:33 of the first period. He picked-up a loose puck on the rebound of a Brendan Bell point shot and slid it around a sprawled-out Reinhard Divis for his team-leading 26th goal of the season. The goal matched Pohl's career high, achieved with Worcester in 2003. Brent Evans and Timofei Shishkanov tallied goals just over four minutes apart midway through the period to provide the Rivermen with their first lead of the evening. Bates Battaglia knotted the score at 2-2 when he closed-out the opening frame's scoring with his 13th goal of the year, on the power-play at 13:08.

Kris Newbury gave Toronto their second lead of the evening when his wrist-shot deflected off the stick of a Rivermen defenceman and past a surprised Divis at 2:47 of the middle stanza. Ben Ondrus and Brett Engelhardt picked-up assists on the play, the second of the evening for Engelhardt. The lead was short-lived however as Trent Whitfield tied the game at 3-3 when his shot eluded Marlies starting netminder J.S. Aubin 30 seconds later. Troy Riddle's 10th goal of the season with 6:45 remaining in the second period gave the Rivermen a lead they would not relinquish. Shishkanov scored his second goal of the evening for a 5-3 lead at 15:41 before Ian White's power-play goal pulled Toronto to within one exactly two minutes later.

Divis was a major factor in the victory having turned aside a number of quality scoring chances while the Marlies were on the power-play in the late going. D.J. King had the only goal of the third period as he tallied his fourth marker of the season with 3:09 remaining in regulation-time to give the visitors a two-goal margin. The game was played before 3,517 fans.

Rivermen Roll Past Marlies With 6-4 Win
Rivermen outscore Marlies on the Road

"Look at our last 10 games ... take this one out, we've played great -- our best hockey of the year." ~ Marlies Head Coach Paul Maurice

Two out of three, still bad
What will Russian do for an encore?
Boxscore

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Up Next
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Next Game: San Antonio Rampage (14-28-4) at Toronto Marlies (25-20-3)
When: Saturday, February 5, 2006 at 7:00 PM (ET)
Where: Ricoh Coliseum
TV: B2 Networks
Radio: AM 640
Web site: www.torontomarlies.com (includes link to B2 Networks $6 web cast).

In related news, the Marlies ECHL affiliate, the Pensacola Ice Pilots lost last night to the Phoenix Road Runners.

Brendan Cook recorded two of the Ice Pilots three goals in the loss. Netminder Todd Ford turned away 43 Phoenix shots, while the Ice Pilots could only muster 17 against the Road Runners' Mike Mole.

Pensacola falls, 4-3, to Phoenix
Ice Pilots Lose 4-3 to Phoenix
Boxscore

From a Rampage Press Release:

The San Antonio Rampage collected a goal to prevent Peoria Rivermen goaltender Patrick Lalime's shutout bid as the Rampage fall 5-1 at the AT&T Center Friday night. The Rampage extend their winless streak to three games after a shootout loss on Tuesday night to the Rivermen and hold a 12-26-1-2 record.

Peoria got the game rolling with a goal 16:17 into the opening period off the stick of Colin Hemingway.

The Rampage would tie the game up 1-1 when Eric Chouinard tallied his eighth goal of the season 2:09 into the second period. Ed Hill extended his point-streak to two games with an assist on the lone goal as Jakub Koreis collected his second assist of the season.

The Rivermen rallied back with three consecutive goals throughout the rest of the second period. Mike Glumac's shot deflected off the pads of Karl Goehring over his head into the net at the 10:44 mark. Jay McClement wrapped the puck around the right goal post into the net 40 seconds later to give Peoria the 3-1 lead. With less than a minute left in the period, Mike Mottau gave the Rivermen a three-goal cushion as he tallied his third goal of the season.

The St. Louis Blues' AHL affiliate guaranteed the 5-1 win at the 9:32 mark in the closing period with a Lee Stempniak goal.

Rampage Stopped At Home 5-1
Peoria dominates Rampage from the start
Rivermen go on power-play rampage
Boxscore
New rules broaden AHL's appeal

Next Game: Rochester Americans (20-20-2) at San Antonio Rampage (12-26-3)
When: Saturday, January 21, 2005 at 8:00 PM (CT)
Where: AT&T Center
TV: B2 Networks
Radio: KSJL-AM 810
Web site: www.sarampage.com (includes link to B2 Networks $6 web cast).