'A big moment': Peoria Rivermen veteran's first pro playoff goal delivers overtime victory

Cayden Cahill gave the Peoria Rivermen the big finish they deserved with perhaps the biggest goal of his career Thursday in Game 1 of the SPHL quarterfinals series against the Pensacola Ice Flyers.

The third-year Rivermen winger delivered his first pro playoff goal, the game-winner, with 70 seconds left in sudden-death overtime for a 3-2 victory before 3,546 at Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla.

"Great play by (Chase) Spencer, and me and Jimmer (JM Piotrowski) got in there with speed," Cahill said amid an excited Rivermen locker room. "This is the big one for me. After I scored it I kind of burned out in the corner, but the guys rushed over and took care of me in that celebration. It was a great moment."

Spencer cut off a hard-charging Pensacola forecheck and flipped the puck the other way, and Piotrowski, just inside the Pensacola blueline on the right side of the zone, pushed the puck to Cahill as he flew by on the way to the net.

Cahill raced in and cut right to left across the crease and twisted a backhander up and over 6-foot-8, 235-pound goaltender Stephen Mundinger for the win at 18:50.

SPHL Quarterfinals box score: Rivermen 3, Pensacola 2 (OT)

SPHL postseason: Playoff series tracker

It was bedlam after that as Cahill charged into the left corner, slid down, then regained his skates and started leaping up and down along the boards as was mobbed by a Rivermen team that poured off the bench to join the celebration.

"For me, that's a big goal. This one is the big one," Cahill said. "It took a while to get it. But playoff games take the whole team, it's not about me. That's a hard-working team, they are good on the forecheck and we got to keep getting pucks behind their defense and stay at them."

Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel saw potential turn into reality for Cahill, and noted how important it was for the team's playoff run.

"Great play by Spencer, they were going 100 mph and he did a great job just flipping it up the ice," Trudel said. "Then Cahill finished it, we need him to be a playoff performer and be a top-6 forward and he was tonight.

"Hopefully that gets him going cause we need that kid for the rest of this postseason."

The Rivermen deserved to win it, dominating the first seven minutes of overtime with a half-dozen huge chances from Alec Baer, Matthew Rehding, Zach Wilkie and others as they held constant pressure on Mundinger.

Playoff preview: What to know as the Peoria Rivermen start SPHL playoff journey

"When you got guys playing that hard you know it's going to come down to the goaltenders," Cahill said. "We got a great game from (Rivermen goaltender) Nick Latinovich, and we had to work hard to beat (Mundinger)."

Rivermen assistant coach and former SPHL elite goaltender Eric Levine knew exactly what those goaltenders faced in a game that produced 91 shots and had no margin for error in overtime.

"That's a lot of pressure, lot of shots," Levine said. "They made some sick saves in the OT. But I just knew we were gonna get it done."

The road to a 1-0 series lead

The Rivermen struck just 2:58 after the opening faceoff for a 1-0 lead when veteran Jordan Ernst slipped behind the defense and fired a shot on the move from the right circle past Mundinger off a terrific pass by Barker from the left endline.

Pensacola tied it at 14:00 when former Rivermen defenseman Dale Deon's drive from a step inside the blueline sailed through traffic past Latinovich.

But the Rivermen countered with a go-ahead goal just 33 seconds later and left the period with a 2-1 lead when rookie winger Tristan Trudel buried a rebound under the crossbar past the 6-foot-8, 235-pound Mundinger for his first pro playoff goal.

The play started when Baer charged down the slot and put a hard check on his opponent, leaving Trudel uncovered above the crease for a rebound finish.

"To be honest, I thought they out-played us in that first period," Trudel said. "But we got our bearings back and started playing more our way, giving them less.

"Playoff intensity is completely different. We started battling for every inch."

And they out-shot Pensacola 28-17 over the next 40 minutes, with wave after wave of scoring chances and a pair of post-strikes.

The clock bled down in overtime when the Rivermen suddenly were whistled into trouble at 16:21. The teams were in 4-on-4 play on coincidental penalties that had already put Peoria's top penalty-killer, Joe Drapluk, in the box.

Ernst was whistled for highsticking at 16:33. Suddenly Peoria, which had dominated the overtime session, faced a 4-on-3 Pensacola power play for 1:48.

The Rivermen gutted through a kill to stay alive, and 17 seconds after the penalty was erased, Cahill erased Pensacola with his game-winner.

"Postseason games are about stepping up in the big moments," Trudel said, repeating something he said before the series started. "We got a big moment from Cayden tonight."

As for the rest of it, well, the Rivermen have become accustomed to turns of fortune on the penalty front. They also know they need to play better going forward.

"We have three guys bleeding from the mouth and get no calls, but we're good at killing 4-on-3 power plays for 1:50 in overtime of a playoff game, right?" Trudel said sarcastically. "I think what we gotta do is get better at committing sneaky penalties. Hide ours better you know? These other teams have mastered it.

"When we won it, it was a sense of relief, knowing we can't control the penalties or the four-on-three for 1:50 in overtime of a playoff game. It was a little bit of redemption for getting through that situation.

"But we still need to get better. We hope this game was our floor, not our ceiling."

River Readings

The best-of-3 series shifts to Peoria for Game 2 at Carver Arena at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, when the Rivermen will try to eliminate Pensacola for a third straight postseason. … No. 8 seed Evansville upset No. 1 Birmingham in overtime Thursday to tie that series at 1-1. … Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel earned his 26th career postseason win, second-most among coaches in SPHL history. He has a chance to surpass former Huntsville coach Glenn Detulleo's all-time league record 29. … Rivermen primary line was newly-acquired left wing Mathew Rehding with veteran center Alec Baer and captain Alec Hagaman. … Pensacola opened with former Rivermen center Andrew Durham on a line with veteran Garrett Milan and Erik Urbank. ... Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman did not score a goal. Significant only because the Rivermen are 11-4 all-time in postseason games in which he scores a goal, and now 14-14 in games when does not score. ... Rivermen goaltender Nick Latinovich, the likely SPHL Goaltender of the Year, made 42 saves, including nine in overtime. ... Rivermen center Alec Baer blasted Pensacola with 10 shots on goal. ... Rivermen veteran winger/defenseman Jordan Ernst put up a plus-3 outing.

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 playoffs; Peoria Rivermen hockey wins opener vs. Pensacola Ice Flyers