Mayhem blanked at home
The law of averages bit the Macon Mayhem in a big way on Thursday night.
One game after setting a franchise mark for most goals scored in a game, the Mayhem were on the opposite end of affairs against SPHL-leading Peoria, falling 4-0.
The Rivermen (21-5-2) have now won a league-best 11 games in a row. Macon is 11-16-3.
Macon started slow on both ends of ice, being outshot 12-1 in the first period and falling behind 2-0. That lead was plenty of cushion for one of the top goalies in the league, Peoria's Kyle Rank, who has now posted a league-best 13 wins.
Macon goalie Garrett Bartus faced 39 shots, four of which Peoria converted into goals.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Rank: Both goalies were among the league leaders in save percentage prior to Thursday, with a 92-percent mark tying them for second. Rank continued to hold his lofty spot and assert himself as one of the SPHL's premiere netminders against Macon, stopping all 29 shots that he faced to post the shutout. And it was hardly easy. He stopped Shawn Skelly on a breakaway in the second period in addition to stopping a flurry of shots on a 5-on-3 advantage for the Mayhem in the third period.
Connor Toomey: Traded from Macon to Peoria earlier in the season, Toomey got the Rivermen on the board 8:28 into the game when he found a crease behind the Mayhem defense and Bartus, and he buried the puck in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The Rivermen built on the early score, scoring once more in the first period and twice in the second.
Bartus: Heavy pressure was once again applied to Bartus, this time by Peoria. He has now faced a combined 89 shots in the past two games, and the more shots a goalie faces, the higher the odds that pucks will find a way to the back of the net. That was the case on Thursday. After Peoria's Ben Power made it 2-0 off of an assist from Walker Wintoneak and Adam Stuart, a bad break made it 3-0. A shot from the blue line by Power deflected off the stick of Dave Pszenyczny, and just like that the Mayhem were behind 3-0 13:37 into the second period. Peoria's final goal came courtesy of Stuart.
WORTH MENTIONING
On the mend: Macon continues to have to make do without some of its top players on both ends of the ice. The Mayhem's top defensive pair, Curtis Megginson and Ryan Michel, are both on the 30-day injured reserve list along with forward Vadim Guskov. Forward Jake Trask missed Thursday with an injury, and another forward, Daniel Gentzler, continues to be on loan to Elmira of the ECHL.
THEY SAID IT
Macon head coach Kevin Kerr on Peoria's play compared to Macon's: "They're a good hockey team, they do a lot of simple things well. It's not a complicated game, I think sometimes our team tries to complicate it. We look for the pretty plays and sometimes you win ugly, and ugly is pretty. We have to learn that there are areas of our game sometimes -- like plays off the glass, off the boards -- are just as good as a fancy, pretty play through the middle of the rink. We're just not doing those things."
Kerr on the impact of injuries: "Obviously with (Megginson), it brings stability to our lineup and brings leadership and a calm on the bench. Michel I think could be a rookie of the year type player, I don't think he gets enough credit for the way he plays the game and his thought processes. He thinks the game very well. Having Guskov out of the lineup, he's an energy guy. We have Gentzler in Elmira and hopefully soon we'll get him back, and then Trask is out. Those other guys have got to pick up the slack."
Kerr on Bartus facing a high number of shots: "We talk about it all the time. He's under siege constantly. Our guys have to start bailing him out, it goes back to playing simple hockey. We turn pucks over in the neutral zone and don't push the pucks and we're not finishing checks. It's an easy game, and we're making it easy on the other teams. (Bartus) is one of the best goaltenders in the league, and we're hanging him out to dry all the time. He's getting worn down, we still have 28 games left to go."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Macon plays at Pensacola on Saturday and Sunday.
This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 1:45 AM with the headline "Mayhem blanked at home ."