Sports stats



USHL Chicago Steel

Chicago Escapes Cedar Rapids with 5-4 Shootout Win

April 2, 2008 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release


Cedar Rapids, Iowa- John Moore converted the deciding penalty shot after the Chicago Steel survived a RoughRider rally in regulation on the way to a 5-4 shootout win over the host Riders Tuesday night. The Riders did earn one point for the shootout setback.

Moore beat Rider goaltender Kent Patterson (29 saves) on the seventh Steel penalty shot to give Chicago a 2-1 win in the shootout. Only the Steel's Eric Alexander and the Riders' Casey Wellman found the back of the net in the first six rounds.

Overtime and, eventually, the shootout proved necessary after Chicago's Brian O'Neill jammed the puck in from the doorstep to tie the game at four at 14:30 of the third period. O'Neill's goal steadied the Chicago ship after the Riders had roared back from a 3-1 second period deficit to take the lead. Ian Slater scored the first of three straight Riders goals and his second of the night at 14:06 of the second period. Slater cut across the goalmouth to sweep the puck home and narrow the Steel lead to 3-2. Ben Lynch tied the game at three with a wrist shot from the slot at 18:14 of the second. 5:19 into the third period, the Riders grabbed the lead for the first time when Tyler Thompson (one goal, two assists) pumped a goalmouth feed from Doug Jones (three assists) into the back of the net.

The Riders were forced to operate from behind because it was the Steel who came out stronger early. Chicago jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of the game. Mike Walsh fired a rebound home to open the scoring at 1:22 of the first period. 75 seconds later Tim Buttery's shorthanded goal doubled the lead.

The Riders were finally sparked to life at 3:47 of the second period when Slater scored on the rebound after Steel netminder Rob Madore (26 saves) stopped Thompson's breakaway bid. Chicago was on the power play when Simon Olsson (one goal, two assists) reestablished the two goal lead at 7:33 of the second. Olsson's one timer made it 3-1, and while that goal did not come close to finishing off the Riders, Chicago was, in the end, able survive the Cedar Rapids surge that followed.

Check out the Chicago Steel Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...

United States Hockey League Stories from April 2, 2008


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.

OurSports Central