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USHL Tri-City Storm

L'Esperance's Hat Trick Wins Game in Overtime

December 13, 2013 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


KEARNEY, Neb. - An overtime winner by the USHL's reigning Player of the Week Joel L'Esperance sent the Viaero Event Center fans home happy on Friday night, as the Tri-City Storm (7-16-2) defeated the Youngstown Phantoms (7-12-5) 6-5.

L'Esperance's winning goal completed a hat trick on the night. The center now has 16 tallies on the season, eight of them coming in his last five games.

Tri-City also got standout performances from a number of other skaters, including Nolan Gluchowski who racked up four assists, Christian Horn who had a goal and an assist and Garrett Cecere who had two helpers.

11 total goals marked a back-and-forth game in which the momentum shifted with each tally.

The Phantoms took the early 1-0 lead under two minutes into the game when forward Zach Evancho moved in on a breakaway. Storm goalie Hayden Lavigne made the initial save, but the rebound got deflected past him and into the net.

Tri-City tied things up at 1-1 on L'Esperance's first of the night. The goal came during a five-on-three advantage for the Storm. The Brighton, Mich. native took a cross-ice pass from Cecere and after hitting the side of the net on his first shot, banked the puck off Phantoms goaltender Colin DeAugustine to tie the game. Gluchowski was credited with the second assist on the goal, his first helper of the game.

Late in the opening frame the Storm had a chance to take the lead while killing a penalty when forward Drew Mayer was awarded a penalty shot, but DeAugustine made a glove save, keeping the score tied 1-1 at the end of the first.

The Storm got the shorthanded goal they were looking for four minutes into the middle period while they were killing a penalty to forward Kyle Eastman. The face-off to open the Phantoms power play was won back to defenseman Kevin Kerr. The Bensalem, Pa. native then got the puck to forward Garrett Gamez, who rushed the play up the ice. Gamez put the puck right on L'Esperance's stick for a low deflection that beat DeAugustine. L'Esperance had his second goal of the game and Tri-City had a 2-1 lead.

Youngstown got even at 2-2 just 1:43 later on a power play goal by forward Kiefer Sherwood.

A power play goal by Storm forward Austin Poganski halfway through the second at 9:27 put Tri-City back on top 3-2. Poganski deflected a shot by Cecere top shelf and picked up his fifth tally of the season. Gluchowski grabbed the second assist, his second of the night.

But a shorthanded goal by Luke Stork and a power play tally by JJ Piccinich gave the Phantoms a 4-3 advantage heading into the final period.

Heading into the third, Storm head coach Jim Hulton pulled netminder Hayden Lavigne, in favor of the night's backup Jacob Johansson.

The Storm scored twice in a minute and eight seconds to re-take the lead in the third. First, Horn found the back of the net for the sixth time this season when he found a loose puck in front on a rebound off a shot from Gluchowski.

Then Dan Labosky scored his first goal of the season on a rush with forward Chris Wilkie. The first USHL tally for Labosky came at 8:08 of the third and gave Tri-City a 5-4 edge. Gluchowski got credit for his fourth assist of the night on the play.

A late penalty to Tri-City forward Ryan McMurphy put Youngstown on the power play with just 2:10 to go in the game. The Phantoms pulled their netminder DeAugustine for an extra attacker and a six-on-four man advantage and cashed in when Piccinich scored his second of the night with just four seconds remaining on the clock to send the game to overtime.

L'Esperance's hat-trick tally came 29 seconds into the extra frame and served as the Storm's first overtime winner of the season.

Johansson picked up the win for Tri-City, making eight saves in the final 20:29 of play. Lavigne stopped 19 shots through the first two periods before being pulled.

For the Phantoms, DeAugustine finished with 23 saves on 29 shots.

The two teams will go at it again tomorrow afternoon at the Viaero Event Center at 3:05 p.m.

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from December 13, 2013


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