Three periods of regulation and an overtime session were not enough to settle matters as Peoria defeated St. Louis in a shootout 4-3 (1-0 SO).
The two teams needed six turns to complete the shootout.
Peoria came back from a one-goal deficit to capture the victory. Peoria trailed 3-2 after a goal by St. Louis\’ Dominic Caito at 14:08 in the third period. Peoria knotted things up at 3-3 on a goal by Thomas Kolaz at 15:12 in the third period.
Peoria stifled St. Louis\’ power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Peoria\’s offense rang up 32 shots on St. Louis\’ net.
Peoria was helped by Braden Stewart, who had one goal. Stewart scored 21 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Peoria. Michael Butera provided the assist. Peoria additionally got points from Andrej Buchko, who also registered one goal and one assist.
St. Louis managed to stay out of the box better than usual, tallying one minor for two minutes in penalty time. St. Louis wound up below its season average of 20.0 penalty minutes per game. St. Louis was held below its usual level of production. St. Louis puts an average of 5.3 pucks into the net per game. St. Louis kept Peoria\’s goalie busy throughout the game, and Ross Lipic made 32 saves on 35 shots.
St. Louis was helped by Frankie Melton, who grabbed one goal. Melton scored 12:04 into the second period to make the score 1-1. Sam Maddox picked up the assist. St. Louis also got points from Caito, who also finished with one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. St. Louis also got a goal from CJ Nitchen as well. More assists for St. Louis came via Frankie Cardinale and Hayden Smer, who each chipped in one.
Peoria incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. Zach Young made 28 saves for St. Louis on 31 shots. St. Louis registered zero goals on four power play opportunities.