Outlaws outlast TC

Published on September 20, 2007 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


BLAINE, Minn. - For over an hour, the Traverse City North Stars and North Iowa Outlaws battled to a scoreless draw on Thursday at the North American Hockey League Showcase in suburban Minneapolis.

Then a funny bounce happened.

Outlaws defenseman Matt Morin corralled a puck that bounded off the end boards and chipped it past Brandon Stephenson at 1:52 of the overtime session, giving North Iowa a 1-0 victory on the second day of action at Schwan's Super Rink.

"That's a bad way to lose - you work hard the whole game, and get a bounce like that," said TC netkeep Brandon Stephenson, who snuffed 35 of the 36 shots he saw on Thursday. "But I felt pretty good. We did play a solid defensive game, especially the 5-on-3s and the penalty kill in general. If we can take one thing away from it, it's that we played pretty well on special teams."

Traverse City (1-0-1) got a point out of the contest, but head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo wasn't especially delighted following the contest.

"We had our chances, we had plenty of them," he opined. "That is the kind of game where you have to capitalize on every single opportunity you're given. We just didn't do that, and they finally did."

The teams enjoyed a combined 15 power play chances, including a pair of 5-on-3 chances. The Outlaws went up two men near the midway point of the first period when Kellen Michalak and Harrison Niemann took back-to-back checking from behind penalties - both of which were assessed additional 10 minute misconduct infractions.

"We simply can't do that and hope to get out of it," Palumbo added. "It's something no team can afford, let alone back-to-back."

Traverse City will look to get back on the winning track on Friday at the NAHL Showcase, as the Stars face off against Alaska. The Avalanche owned the worst record in the league in 2006-07, but have split their first two games so far this year. The game is set to face-off at 5:30 p.m. ET.

NAHL SHOWCASE

WHERE: Schwan's Super Rink - Blaine, Mn.

FRIDAY: TC (1-0-1) vs. Alaska (1-1-0), 5:30 p.m. ET

SATURDAY: TC vs. Alexandria (0-2-0), 8:45 p.m. ET

WATCH LIVE: Link to the pay-per-view B2 video feed at traversecitynorthstars.com or nahlshowcase.com

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North American Hockey League Stories from September 20, 2007


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