Déjà vu: TC falls in fifth

Published on December 13, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - It was déjà vu all over again on Saturday night at Centre ICE arena, as the host Traverse City North Stars rolled to a 3-1 lead only to see the Alpena IceDiggers storm back and claim a shootout triumph. The Diggers claimed a 5-4 fifth-frame win on Friday, and left town with a 4-3 victory on Saturday.

Despite the loss, the Stars (15-5-5) took a point on Saturday, and bypassed Mahoning Valley into sole possession of first place in the NAHL North by virtue of the Phantoms' loss at the Team USA-17s.

"We're hanging in there, but the entire division is right on our heels," said North Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "Yeah, we did get a couple of points this weekend, but we gave up four (points) to them. This is probably going to be a pretty tightly-contested division throughout the season."

Traverse City has 35 points on the 2008-09 campaign, Mahoning is next with 34 (and a game in hand), while Marquette (32), Team USA (30), and Alpena (30) are all within hailing distance of the top spot.

On Saturday, Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) scored a pair of goals wrapped around a Kyle Bonis (Lindsay, ONT/TC North Stars) marker and the hosts enjoyed a 3-1 bulge two minutes into the third period. Erik Peterson then banged home a pair of power play pots less than a minute apart - the second with 11:59 to play in regulation - to send the affair into overtime and ensuing shootout.

"We took some penalties we really didn't need to take at some pretty key moments along the way," Palumbo explained. "But give them (Alpena) a lot of credit for never giving up and battling back all weekend."

C.J. Motte (St. Clair, MI/Honeybaked AAA) worked the pipes for the home club on Saturday, stopping 33 of 36 shots and four of five shootout attempts. The North Stars did not register a shootout marker, and are 3-for-22 this season in the fifth period. Six different Stars players - Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/Soo Indians AAA), Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MITC North Stars), Nate Urbaniak (Perrysburg, OH/TC North Stars), Mike Schenfeld (Littleton, CO/Lake Forest Academy Prep), and Marc and Garret Thompson (Traverse City, MI/ TC North Stars) - recorded one assist apiece.

Traverse City is off until a Dec. 21 visit to sixth-place Motor City, then takes on Alpena again in the Diggers' traditional New Year's Eve contest at Northern Lights Arena.

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 13, 2008


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