Stampede Rally to Top Omaha 4-3 in a Shootout
March 13, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release
Ralston, NE - The Sioux Falls Stampede scored two goals 1:09 apart in the third period and rallied from a 3-1 deficit to top the Omaha Lancers 4-3 Friday night at Ralston Arena. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Herd and increased their lead over the Des Moines Buccaneers to five points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West. The Stampede (26-18-5) outscored the Lancers 2-1 in a four round shootout to earn the win and the season series against the Lancers with a 2-0-2 mark. It marked the first time this season the Herd won a game when trailing after two periods and 11-12-2 on the road this season. Stefanos Lekkas stopped 26 shots and turned aside 3 of 4 shots in the shootout to improve to 20-10-3 on the season. Troy Loggins and Mikey Eyssimont tallied the goals in the shootout for the Herd.
After over 10 minutes of the two teams battling back-and-forth the Lancers cashed in on their second power play opportunity of the night when Louie Rowe scored on a rebound. A shot from Ryan Donato was stopped off the pads of Stampede goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, but the rebound bounced to Rowe who wristed the puck into the upper right hand corner of the net to give the Lancers a 1-0 edge. Minutes later it appeared the Stampede had tied the game on a goal from Mikey Eyssimont, but the referee went to video replay and waved it off, keeping the score 1-0 in favor of Omaha. The Herd went on the power play in the final minute of the period when the Lancers scored shorthanded. Dakota Joshua held the puck in the high slot and a shot was blocked by Jimmy Schuldt who flipped the puck to center ice to Anthony Angello who raced in on a breakaway and beat Lekkas on the glove side to make it a 2-0 game at the end of the first period. Omaha outshot the Herd 15-6 in the period.
The second period took nearly and hour to play with several stoppages and penalties called. Sioux Falls got on the board at 11:28 of the period when Dakota Joshua tallied his 16th goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game. Dillon Eichstadt wristed a shot on net that was stopped by Omaha goaltender Kris Oldham, but the rebound bounced into the left circle for Dakota Joshua who quickly wristed the puck into the back of the net. From there things got physical as Chaz Switzer dropped the gloves with Louie Rowe followed by Michael Bigelbach going after Troy Loggins minutes later resulting in both players heading to the box, despite that Loggins never dropped the gloves. The Herd ended up having to kill of a penalty after the altercation and would go on to fight off a 5-on-3 advantage by the Lancers. When the period was all said and done, the Herd still trailed the Lancers 2-1. The Stampede outshot the Lancers 10-6 in the period.
Omaha regained their two goal lead just 45 seconds into the third period to make it 3-1. The Herd would not falter though; instead they battled back with two quick goals of their own. The first came at the two minute mark, on the power play, off the stick of Collin Peters. Mikey Eyssimont and Cooper Marody worked to get a shot on goal that was stopped by Oldham, but the rebound came to Peters who quickly fired it into the back of the net to bring the Herd back within one. 1:09 later the game was tied when Matt Nuttle's blast from the right point found its way through traffic and bounced over the glove of Oldham to make it 3-3 and send the Stampede faithful that made the trip into a frenzy. The rest of the period was controlled by the Stampede who outshot the Lancers 13-7 in the period.
The game eventually went into overtime and the Herd nearly took the game in the extra session when Marody broke free on a breakaway, but was stopped by a tremendous save by Oldham to force a shootout.
The Stampede won the shootout in the fourth round when Mikey Eyssimont made a great fake on the backhand and went to the forehand, tucking the puck under the pads of Oldham to give Sioux Falls a 2-1 edge. Lekkas forced Josh French's attempt wide and the Herd completed the comeback win, 4-3 over the Lancers.
Sioux Falls outshot the Lancers 35-29 in the game and went 1-for-6 on the power play while the Lancers were 1-for-5.
The Stampede return to action on Saturday when they travel to Lincoln to face the Stars at 7:05 PM. Fans can catch the game live on KELO News Talk 1320-AM, 107.9-FM and online at kelo.com starting at 6:40 PM.
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