Lethemon Leads Chicago To Friday Shutout Of Force
January 8, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA - Steel goaltender John Lethemon stopped all 39 shots he faced Friday, earning his first career USHL shutout and leading Chicago (13-16-2-2, 30 points) to a 1-0 victory over the Fargo Force (12-15-2-0, 26 points) in front of 3,581 fans at Scheels Arena. Defenseman Ruslan Rakhmatov scored the lone goal of the game, completing a tic-tac-toe play from Brandon Duhaime and Tanner Laczynski in the third period.
The Steel and Force battled through a back-and-forth opening frame, with each team committing three penalties as well as mustering 13 shots on goal, but neither was able to tally a goal in a scoreless first period.
The story remained the same through the second period, with Chicago tallying 15 shots compared to Fargo's 13 in the period, but the game remained notched at zero through 40 minutes of play.
The only tally would come at the 6:05 mark of the third period as all five Steel players on the ice were involved in one of the team's best offensive plays of the season. Grant Gabriele caused a turnover on the neutral zone wall, setting the puck free to Laczynski. Laczynski then dropped the puck for Christiano Versich, who slung a pass across the blue line to Duhaime. Moving swiftly into the high slot and towards the cage, Duhaime then fed the puck ahead to Laczynski on his right, drawing Fargo netminder Ryan Wischow over to the post. Laczynski then slid a pass back to Ruslan Rakhmatov, who buried the puck into the abandoned net-mouth for his fifth goal of the season.
Despite pulling Wischow late in the game in favor of an extra attacker, Fargo could not solve Lethemon, who finished the game with 39 saves, tying a career high set earlier this season.
Each team ran into penalty issues in a heated contest, but Chicago finished the game seven-for-seven on the penalty kill, while Fargo denied all six Steel power play opportunities.
Chicago left wing Karch Bachman returned to the lineup after missing 11 of the last 14 games due to injury. Right wing Haralds Egle made his Steel debut after being acquired in a Thursday trade with the Madison Capitols.
The Steel conclude a weekend set with the Force with a Saturday rematch at 7:05 p.m. CST. Chicago concludes its season-long, 10-game road trip next weekend with visits to Madison Friday and Cedar Rapids on Saturday before returning to Fox Valley Ice Arena for a home game Sunday, Jan. 17 at 3 p.m. against Muskegon. This game will feature the unveiling of the team's new scoreboard during Mommy, Minions and Me Day. Plus, it's a Steel Family Pack game - fans can receive four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and four chuck-a-pucks starting at just $59. Tickets are available at the box office inside Fox Valley Ice Arena, by phone at 855-51-STEEL or online at ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.
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United States Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2016
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