North Stars complete sweep, 5-3

Published on January 17, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - A cacophony of third period whistles and a corollary late rally by the visiting Alpena IceDiggers made things more interesting in the waning stages of Saturday's series finale, but the Traverse City North Stars had more than enough to secure a seventh win in eight tries with a 5-3 victory at Centre ICE arena.

After building leads of 3-0 and 4-1, the North Stars were cited for 31 minutes worth of penalties in the final period, leading to a pair of power play goals for the Diggers and some tense moments down the stretch. Nick Shkreli (Romeo, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) potted an insurance marker with 5.5 seconds remaining to make it a two-goal final margin.

"We've committed ourselves to playing a team game, and putting aside some of the personal goals, and that's been the key to getting back to some of the success we experienced earlier in the season," explained Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo, whose club has now four straight against the IceDiggers. "We've tried to take care of things in our own end of the rink, and play out from there, and it's been working. If we can consistently do that, we'll continue to be a tough team to beat."

Alec Shields (Pittsburgh, PA/Pittsburgh Predators U18) scored his first NAHL goal 9:51 in for the only tally of the first period, taking a nifty pass from Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) to convert a two-on-one break. Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/Ft. Williams SIJHL/Lake Superior St.) delivered a shorthanded goal 8:01 into the second, followed by a Sean Burke (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) score - his career-best ninth of the season - less than five minutes later.

Alpena got on the board 6:39 into the third frame, but Doug Clifford (Woodhaven, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) answered for Traverse City just 13 seconds later. Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) set up the tape-to-tape-to-twine point-blank one-timer - which turned out to be the game-winner.

Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/Thunder Bay SIJHL) stopped 20 shots en route to his fifth straight victory, and improved to 17-6-1 on the 2009-10 campaign. Garrett Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) kept on his breakneck pace, collecting a pair of assists. He has nine points in his last four outings, and is third in the league at +20. Ainsworth and Curtis Heinz (Grand Rapids, MI/Wichita Falls NAHL) also dished out two assists each, while Radke, Opie, Nilan Nagy (Canonsburg, PA/Pittsburgh Predators U18) and Andy Huff (Howell, MI/ Honeybaked U18) added one assist apiece.

The Stars maintained their six-point lead over second-place Marquette, upping their record to 23-12-2. The Rangers scored a 5-4 come-from-behind victory at Albert Lea on Saturday, while third-place Janesville dropped a 5-1 decision to Motor City. The Metal Jackets visit Centre ICE next weekend in a key two-game NAHL North showdown.

We thank you, our media partners, for your continued interest in Traverse City North Stars hockey. If there is anything we can do to help facilitate any aspect of your coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us. You are a valued component of North Stars hockey.

For more information, call Lance-Michael Correia at (231) 632-5047, the Traverse City North Stars office at (231) 941-9200 or visit the team's Web site at: www.traversecitynorthstars.com.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2010


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