Storm Fight off Sioux City, Win 5-2
January 29, 2013 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release
KEARNEY, Neb. - Despite being down to just four healthy defensemen at the start of the night, the Tri-City Storm (17-19-4) defeated the Sioux City Musketeers (7-22-10) by a score of 5-2 on Monday night at the Viaero Event Center.
Storm center Tim Bonner had a big night, scoring two goals and dropping the gloves in the second period for his first USHL fighting major against Musketeer captain Josh Erickson.
Also contributing in the Tri-City victory was Michael Vecchione who scored the game winning goal and picked up two assists.
After a scoreless first period things ramped up in the second frame. Storm forward Joel L'Esperance gave Tri-City a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season on the power play from Garrett Gamez and Jared Linnell at 6:33 of the middle period.
The Storm then took a string of three consecutive penalties in just over a minute of play, putting themselves down two men for almost four minutes. Led by their goaltender Justin Quale, the Tri-City penalty kill prevailed, escaping the infractions still ahead 1-0.
In the closing seconds of the period, Bonner made it 2-0 when he walked in and put a wrist shot into the top half of the net with just six seconds remaining on the clock.
But Sioux City wasn't going anywhere. The Musketeers scored two goals in under a minute early on in the final period to tie the game at 2-2 and even things back up.
Ten seconds after the Sioux City goals, Tim Lappin dropped the gloves with Ryan Mantha. It was the third fight of the game and turned the momentum in the Storm's direction once again.
A few minutes later the Storm found themselves with their own two-man advantage and took advantage. Vecchione blasted a one-timer past Sioux City goaltender Kyle Hayton on a pass from Trevor Moore to give Tri-City a 3-2 lead and the Storm never looked back.
Tri-City defenseman Cutler Martin scored another power play goal to widen the lead to 4-2 and Bonner added an empty netter, his second tally of the night to seal a 5-2 victory.
Quale finished the night with 23 saves on 25 shots. In his first start since Jan. 4, the netminder helped to hold the Musketeers scoreless on the power play (0/6) for the night.
The Storm are back on the ice on Friday night when they travel to Des Moines to take on the Buccaneers at 7:05 p.m. Tri-City is back home at the Viaero Event Center on Feb. 9 to host the Fargo Force at 7:05 p.m.
Notes: The Storm scratched forward Heikki Liedes along with defensemen Josh McArdle, Nolan Gluchowski, Johnny Hrabovsky, Garrett Cecere and Eli May.
• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...
United States Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2013
- Storm Fight off Sioux City, Win 5-2 - Tri-City Storm
- Phantoms Notebook: Week No. 19 - Youngstown Phantoms
- Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Phantoms Goaltender Sean Romeo Commits to Maine - Youngstown Phantoms
- Lumberjacks Announce February Promotions & Community Events - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Omaha Lancers News & Notes - Week 19 - Omaha Lancers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
