'Two great warrior teams': How the Rivermen won Game 2 and stayed alive in the SPHL Finals

PEORIA — Alec Hagaman looked as much like a Viking marauder as a Peoria Rivermen captain, flaming red beard on a face flushed from a fight for their playoff lives Saturday.

Hagaman became the third player in the Rivermen franchise's SPHL era to notch a playoff hat trick, willing, carrying, leading his team to a 6-4 conquest over the Huntsville Havoc in Game 2 of the President's Cup Finals before 5,581 at Carver Arena.

Alec Baer had a goal and four assists, including the game-winner, and set the SPHL record for most assists in a postseason (now 14), surpassing Knoxville's Kevin Swider's 13 in 2008. Peoria defenseman Zach Wilkie had a goal, and rookie Mathew Rehding notched the game's first goal, to tie the best-of-3 series.

'Frustrating': Peoria Rivermen open SPHL championship with road loss vs. Huntsville

"That was an absolute battle, two great warrior teams going at each other," Hagaman said. "There were so many highs and lows in this game, our emotions were all over the place.

"But these two teams, going to a final game, this is the way the season should end."

The Rivermen faced elimination Saturday. Now Huntsville and the Rivermen will both face elimination in a winner-take-all title Game 3 on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. in Carver Arena.

Tickets went on sale immediately late Saturday night, via an online link set up by the Rivermen.

The Rivermen will face a two-front battle Sunday, Huntsville on one hand and SPHL history on the other. The SPHL has had seven championship series in a best-of-3 format, and no team has ever lost Game 1 and come back to win the series.

"If your big players come out to play, you win," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "Alec Hagaman was an absolute beast. Alec Baer was tremendous again, has been the whole playoffs. Mitch McPherson worked all day at his job, came to the rink, played in a must-win postseason game and was phenomenal."

A huge crowd and a fast start

Carver Arena rattled as if it held a sellout crowd, a jacked up near-6,000 bunch that stood in stretches, chanted the team's name, did the wave and came armed with well-wishing signs.

The Rivermen made them erupt 4:32 after the opening faceoff when Rehding's shot from the left circle zipped past goaltender Mike Robinson's left pad and inside the far post.

President's Cup Finals Game 2 box score: Rivermen 6, Huntsville 4

The Rivermen swarmed in the Huntsville zone over a seven-minute stretch to the 15-minute mark, producing nine unanswered shots and scoring twice to put Huntsville on the ropes and push the crowd into a frenzy.

Baer's slick bank pass off the sideboards from his defensive zone sprang Hagaman for a breakaway, and he buried it around Robinson's left pad at 13:30 for 2-0.

"I couldn't even see Alec, there were bodies in front of me," Baer said, grinning. "I just banked it off the wall hoping it would find him. I was thinking, 'If it's going to work one time all season, let this be the one.' "

Then 66 seconds later, Wilkie pushed the lead to 3-0 when his wrister from the left point threaded through traffic and between Robinson's pads.

Huntsville earned a power play in the final minute, and right wing Eric Henderson's deflection from above the crease ran through Rivermen goaltender Nick Latinovich with 3.5 seconds left in the period.

It was a big goal for Huntsville, psychologically. The Rivermen could arguably have scored five goals in the period, twice having Robinson beaten only to have the puck deflect away or be inadvertently blocked by a Peoria player from going into the net.

"I think that penalty at the end of the first period hurt us," Trudel said. "Then after that, we had to kill two more quick penalties and we lost some momentum. We played a great first period. In that second period, though, we took our foot off the gas."

Hagaman strikes early

Hagaman made it 4-1 just 58 seconds into that second period when he cut across the high slot, then moved down to the inside edge of the right circle and snapped the puck into the top left corner. But the Rivermen backed off and Huntsville went on a 9-3 shooting run in the middle third of the period, scoring twice to pull within 4-3.

Former Rivermen center Jack Jaunich skated down the slot to beat Latinovich and reduce Peoria's lead to 4-2 at 11:36 of the second.

Huntsville continued to bring pressure to the Rivermen zone and cut Peoria's lead to 4-3 at 14:16 when the puck deflected into the air on the doorstep and bounced down and in off either Havoc's Cole Reginato or a Peoria defenseman.

The mighty siege of Game 2

"We knew they were going to come back at us," Baer said. "I think their best asset is they are a team that goes every second of a 60-minute game. You can't stop against them."

It was Baer who helped the Rivermen recover for a 5-3 lead at 1:46 of the third period when he stickhandled away from coverage near the left circle boards and pumped a drive far side and in off the right post.

But between that game-winner and the final horn was another Huntsville response.

The Havoc answered at 4:38 when Reginato's shot trickled in through Latinovich to close within 5-4.

After the play, Hagaman punched a Huntsville player behind the net, and was boxed for roughing, sending Huntsville to a power play.

The Rivermen erased it to maintain their lead.

Then Huntsville's final demise was self-inflicted. Key defenseman Brett Humberstone raced toward the left boards and delivered an elbow to the head/neck area of Rivermen winger Braydon Barker, a dangerous play.

With 4:17 left, he was given a five-minute major penalty for interference. It's unknown if the league will review it for a possible suspension.

Rivermen center JM Piotrowski was boxed for interference less than two minutes later, creating a four-on-four stretch during which Huntsville pulled Robinson for an extra attacker to go five-on-four.

Hagaman broke up a pass at the Peoria blueline, backhanded a slow shot down the ice and it headed dead center into the net for 6-4 with 81 seconds left.

"What am I thinking now?" Trudel said, answering a question. "This game is over. I'm thinking about the first period Sunday."

River Readings

Rivermen playoff scoring leader and skilled center Alec Baer had three assists in the opening period and delivered a highlight-reel hit. He leads the SPHL playoffs with 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists) in six games. The assist total is an SPHL postseason record. He is also one point away from matching Knoxville ace Kevin Swider's playoff points record of 18, set in 2008. … The Rivermen are 27-1-3 at Carver Arena this season, where they have won 16 straight. It's the best home-ice record in professional hockey. ... Carver Arena was humid and the protective glass was fogged during pre-game. … The Rivermen scratched veteran winger Cayden Cahill and put in center Dante Zapata. … Peoria defenseman Nick Aromatario was also a scratch. … SPHL commissioner Doug Price was on hand, with the President's Cup. … Former Rivermen defenseman Brandon Greenside was on hand for the game. … Peoria City Councilman Denis Cyr — the IHL Playoff MVP for the Rivermen in their 1984-85 title — was in attendance, as was former Rivermen team president John Butler.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: SPHL hockey President's Cup Finals: Peoria Rivermen tie series with Game 2 win