MOLINE, Ill. β The Quad City Storm defeated the Peoria Rivermen, 6-2, on Friday's opening night of SPHL hockey from Vibrant Arena at The MARK.
The teams reunited on the ice for the first time since April, when Peoria eliminated the Storm in a tight semi-final playoff series before going on to win the 2022 SPHL championship.
There was no love lost between the two western Illinois rivals, in a match dubbed the "cold war on 74," to commemorate the interstate connecting the western Illinois metropolitans.
The Storm opened the scoring five minutes into the first period, when Michael Moran scored to put the QC up 1-0. Moran's goal was the only offense of the first period, as the Storm and Rivermen spent much of the period exchanging pushes and punches, instead of shots on goal.
Tensions peaked in the final minutes of the first period when multiple fights broke out. The Storm's Connor Fries and Rivermen's Zach Wilkie ignored the referees' pleas as they dropped their gloves and skated towards the center of the ice to settle a dispute with their fists. Nearly all 3,676 fans in attendance rose from their seats to watch the duel, booing loudly after Wilkie made a shushing gesture towards the crowd as he skated off the ice.
Despite some slashing and shoving, the game was mostly clean after the first period brawl.
The second period was highlighted by four Quad City goals. Jacob Ratcliffe, Cole Golka, Filip Virgili and Logan Nelson all scored to make the game 5-2 after two periods.
Tommy Stang added a third period goal, and the Storm dominated the defending champions from Peoria by a score of 6-2. Goaltender Bailey Brkin denied 29 of 31 shots on goal, leading the Storm to their first victory of the 2022-23 season.
The Storm will travel to Peoria tonight to meet the Rivermen once more in the second match of their opening weekend double-header.
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