Yan Stastny had two goals and an assist as Peoria used quick strikes to earn a 6-4 victory over Houston in Game 1 of their West Division semifinal series at Carver Arena on Wednesday night.
Game 2 is set for Friday.
It was the first-ever Calder Cup Playoff victory for the Rivermen, whose only previous appearance ended in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Aeros in 2006.
Stastny, who split the regular season between Peoria and St. Louis, opened the scoring 7:36 into the game and assisted on Steve Regier‘s power-play goal 2:12 later.
Then after Houston cut the deficit in half, Stastny followed a Cam Paddock goal 32 seconds later with his second of the night midway through the second period.
Corey Locke and Krys Kolanos had a goal and an assist each to pull the Aeros to within 4-3 early in the third, but Jori Lehtera, a third-round pick by the Blues in the 2008 draft, netted his first career AHL goal and Carl Corazzini also scored for the Rivermen to put the game away.
Defensemen Danny Richmond and Justin Fletcher notched two assists apiece.
Making his first Calder Cup Playoff appearance since 1997, Manny Legace finished with 29 saves in the win. With Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer out injured, Anton Khudobin stopped 25 of 31 shots for Houston in his AHL playoff debut.
