Double Hat Trick Ends Dominant February
March 1, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
Jack Pechar and Bruno Idzan both recorded hat tricks to lead the Lincoln Stars past the Fargo Force, 7-2, on Friday night at Scheels Arena.
Lincoln (35-12-1-0) earned its fourth straight win and has now won 16-of-its-last-17 games. The Stars hold the best record in the USHL and scored seven-or-more goals in a game for the 11th time this season. Lincoln concluded February 9-1, marking its most wins in a month this campaign.
Pechar has now scored seven goals in his last four games. He leads the team with 24 goals and his 44 career goals are the 13th-most in franchise history. Pechar netted his third hat trick of the season and his fourth multi-goal game. Should he record another hat trick this season, it would tie Brandon Bochenski (2000-01) for the Stars' single-season record. Pechar is the first Star to record three hat tricks in the same season since Kevin Roy had three in 2011-12. Josh Langfeld (1996-97) is the only other Star to record three hat tricks in a season. Preston Callander recorded two hat tricks in a season in back-to-back campaigns (1999-00 and 2000-01) and is tied with Bochenski for the Stars' career hat trick record. Pechar became the third Star to record a hat trick in back-to-back games, joining Lucas Wahlin (Mar. 25-26, 2022), Callander (Oct. 21 & 27, 2000) and Langfeld (Dec. 8 & 13, 1996).
Idzan became the 66th different Star to record a hat trick Friday night. The Zagreb, Croatia native has now collected points in 16-of-his-first-22 games with the Stars and has 12 multi-point games. He also added an assist on Pechar's first goal to record a four-point night for a season-high point performance. Idzan leads the USHL with a 1.50 points per game average.
Pechar and Idzan's efforts marked the second time this season that the Stars had two players record a hat trick in the same game, following up when Pechar and Matthew Maltais did it Dec. 28 vs. Tri-City. Friday marked the fifth time in Stars history that multiple players recorded hat tricks in the same game. Lincoln has recorded seven hat tricks this season and has scored 217 goals, 30 away from breaking their franchise record from 2000-01.
Etienne Lessard also recorded a multi-point effort with four assists. It marked the Union commit's 10th multi-assist game and first four-point night of the season. Lessard's 31 assists are tied for second-most among all USHL defensemen and his 34 points are the second-most.
Lincoln went 3-for-6 on the power play, marking its sixth time scoring three-or-more power-play goals in a single game this season. The Stars led 3-1 entering the third before blowing it open with four goals in the final 20 minutes.
Pechar open the scoring 2:03 into the game when he entered the zone with a pass to Idzan on his left before receiving the return feed and backhanding it in. Pechar has netted the game's first goal in three-of-the-last-four contests.
Pechar tallied two more times in special-teams scenarios, first scoring a shorthanded goal at the 6:42 mark of the third. Layne Loomer found him in front of the net and Pechar couldn't put it on the cage, but wrapped around the net and scored near-post side for his second consecutive multi-goal game.
The Northeastern commit wrapped up the scoring by blasting a one-timer top shelf in the left corner off a pass from Lessard at the right point at the 17:03 mark of the third. Pechar's six power-play goals are tied with Dashel Oliver for the second-most on the Stars.
Idzan scored the Stars' second goal on a one-timer from the far circle off a pass from Alex Pelletier between the two circles just to his left at the 14:35 mark of the first.
The Wisconsin commit scored twice in the third, first with a five-on-three power-play goal on another one-timer from inside the right circle. The shot was very similar to his first goal and came off a one-touch pass from Pechar at the near circle.
Idzan's final tally to net his first USHL hat trick came on a wicked wrist shot from the left circle that popped off the back iron immediately out of the net. He carried the puck all the way from the half wall of the far boards up to the blue line and over to just beneath the left dot to score his 16th goal of the season at the 13:33 mark of the third.
The Force came out strong in the second, recording eight-of-the-first-nine shots and cut the deficit to one during that stretch. Sam Laurilla carried the puck almost a full 360 degrees around the Lincoln defensive zone from the blue line to score his sixth goal at the 7:44 mark. That made it 2-1, Stars, but it would be the closest that Fargo got.
The Stars responded shortly after the expiration of a power play to restore a two-goal lead. Lincoln only had four skaters on the ice in the midst of a line change before Nik Young hopped off the bench and was rewarded with a goal shortly afterwards. With the Stars in the midst of an offensive-zone possession and both teams only with four players on the ice, Young flew in to the play just as the penalty was expiring and play returned to even strength. He received a feed from Pechar and one-timed it over the glove of goaltender Alan Lendak to make it 3-1, Lincoln. Matthew Maltais picked up the secondary assist by making a terrific effort to glove down the puck after it popped up high and dropped it off to Pechar behind him, who cut to the net and fooled Lendak by switching to the backhand to find Young for his fourth goal of the campaign.
Friday's effort marked the first time that Lincoln scored seven times in a game against Fargo since Mar. 30, 2018, a span of 47 games in between. The Stars conclude the weekend Saturday night against the Force at 6:05 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast on cable television on MeTV. Check your local listings for the channel in your area. The game will also be available on FloHockey and Mixlr.
Lincoln's next home games are Mar. 6 vs. Sioux City and Mar. 8 vs. Waterloo. Tickets are available now at lincolnstars.com.
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