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USHL Des Moines Buccaneers

Buccaneers Hold off Omaha 6-4

December 18, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Des Moines Buccaneers News Release


What looked like it may turn out to be a blowout worked its way into a nail-biter, but the Buccaneers persevered on the back of a hat trick to defeat Omaha 6-4 Friday night.

The Des Moines Buccaneers wasted no time getting themselves on the scoreboard in the first period as Georgy Gorodetsky took the puck from behind the goal line and fed it into the slot where it was Van Barr burying his first goal in a Buccaneers uniform at the 1:29 mark. The Lancers countered with a power play tally as Nick Rivera muscled a puck past Bucs' goalie Jan Ruzicka to get the game tied up at 5:01 of the period. The Buccaneers kept up a lot of pressure and it looked like they may not be able to separate themselves from their opponents on the scoreboard in the first until Kenny Hausinger and David Keefer gained the zone and used their speed to create a two-on-one; Hausinger from the right side slid the puck over to Keefer who beat Omaha's goalie Zack Skog down low at 17:43 of the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

The second period saw the Buccaneers score three goals in less than two minutes to build a 5-1 lead. David Keefer scored his second goal of the evening on a MidAmerican Energy Power Play when he backhanded a goal in from close range at 6:34 of the period. On a two-on-one Zach Jordan scored his team-leading tenth goal of the season when he looked off Nikita Pavlychev and buried it high blocker-side chasing Skog from the game at 7:07. Georgy Gorodetsky finished off the scoring spree at 8:31 when he took a feed from Patrick Grasso from inside the circles and beat backup Peter Thome. The Lancers quickly answered with an Austin Alger goal just 14 seconds later and again on a give-and-go between Matt Meier and Ben Lown at the 14:26 mark to make it 5-3 after two.

Our longest stretch of scoreless hockey lasted until the 17:57 mark of the third period when JC McLean scored seconds after an Omaha power play expired to make it a 5-4 contest. The Lancers pulled their goalie in the closing minutes and David Keefer was able to glove a clearing attempt at the Lancers blueline and bury it into the empty net to complete the hat trick and the 6-4 victory.

Des Moines' Jan Ruzicka picked up 26 saves in the victory for the Buccaneers, Peter Thome was handed the loss despite making 9 saves on 10 shots on goal, and Zack Skog finished the night surrendering 4 goals on 22 shots on goal.

The Buccaneers are next in action against the Lincoln Stars on Saturday, December 19th, back at Buccaneer Arena.

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United States Hockey League Stories from December 18, 2015


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