It's happened before. The Eagles realized they were starting their games too late in the day, even though they scraped by with a win on Wednesday, so Friday night they decided to get going earlier. Like at the start.
"We discussed the fact," said Eagle coach Bob Francis, "that through the homestand we've been getting in trouble by not getting out of the gate. Tonight the work ethic and thought process were there for 60 minutes."The result in the Delta Center was a 60-minute Eagle game - well, make it 59 minutes and 44 seconds - and a 6-4 Salt Lake win over Peoria.
It should have been 6-2 but for those 16 seconds in the third period when the Rivermen scored goals at 18:23 on a power play and at 18:39, both by Dave Mackey, to make it an interesting, even tense, finish. Both coaches even had to herd their teams off the ice after the final buzzer to avoid confrontations.
Francis wasn't upset his team allowed the two quick goals, mainly because one was on a power play and the fourth was on a missed assignment. "Just a bad goal. There was no breakdown," he said.
A double-shifting Patrick Lebeau led all scorers with three assists and a goal, and David Struch had two goals, including the one Francis found most important.
Peoria's Peter Kasowski got a power-play goal at 5:55 of the second period, one of three Riverman man-advantage scores, to cut the Eagle lead to 3-2. Struch came back :34 later with his first goal on a sweet pass from Kris Miller to keep the Peoria down by two.
Defenseman Kevin Wortman slapped in the Eagles' fifth goal 2:43 into the third period with the help of a screen from David St. Pierre, who had at least two screens on goals and maybe three, said Francis. St. Pierre contributed heavily without earning a point, "just by going to the net," Francis said. He's the extra forward and has dressed in less than half of the club's games. "It's a tough situation, but he's making the most of his chance," Francis says.
Struch's second goal came at 10:30 of the third and gave Salt Lake a 6-2 lead. Kerry Clark dove to pass toward the net, and Struch and Todd Gillingham whacked till it went in. "We didn't even see the puck go in," said Struch.
"Clarkie, Struch and Gillingham had an exceptional night," said Francis. "They set the tempo. They got the puck low and worked well off each other."
Struch said the whole team made a better show Friday than in Wednesday's win because it was a 60-minute effort. As a line, he said, "We've been slumping as of late, so we're trying to get back on track. All three guys went low in front of the net."
Shawn Heaphy opened scoring at 9:04, with Peoria scoring at 12:54 and Lebeau giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead with his score at 18:09. Lebeau's linemate, Tomas Forslund, had the night's prettiest score, skating from the right circle, holding the puck through the slot and outwaiting goalie Geoff Sarjeant until he left an opening. "An exceptional effort. A critical goal," Francis said.
The Eagles, 29-25-3, now make a four-game road trip beginning Wednesday in Kansas City. Peoria fell to 24-23-6.