The Peoria Mustangs tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the St. Louis Jr. Blues held on for a 4-3 victory.
St. Louis took a 4-2 lead during the second period, only to have Peoria storm back on a Andrew Scofield goal 7:27 into the third period to pull to one goal down.
The Jr. Blues evened the best of three series at 1-1 and forced a deciding game three.
Tommy Heinzman had two goals and one assist to lead St. Louis. Heinzman scored the first of his two goals on the power play at 1:40 into the first period to make the score 1-0 St. Louis. The Jr. Blues had taken the advantage when the Mustangs\’ Brendan Murphy got sent off for tripping. Mike Lozano provided the assist. Heinzman\’s next tally on the power play made the score 3-2 St. Louis with 7:06 left in the second period. Adam Roeder picked up the assist.
St. Louis\’ offense rang up 33 shots on Peoria\’s net.
St. Louis also had goals scored by Simon Koscielski and Alex Klaesner, who scored one goal each. More assists for St. Louis came via Alexander Turin and Steven Farina, who contributed one each.
The Mustangs kept the Jr. Blues\’ goalie busy throughout the game, and Cooper Cothran made 29 saves on 32 shots.
Peoria was helped by Austin Wisely, who finished with one goal. Wisely scored 13:02 into the first period to make the score 2-2. Murphy provided the assist. Sam Turner also scored for Peoria. In addition, Peoria received assists from Nathan Chasteen, who had one.
St. Louis incurred 20 minutes in penalty time with five minors. Marc Hayton recorded 29 saves for the Mustangs. Peoria incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.
