Preview - Stars at Storm
March 19, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
TUESDAY, MAR. 19, 2019 | 7:05 P.M. CST | VIAERO CENTER
RADIO: LINCOLN STARS RADIO | WATCH: HOCKEYTV
Tonight's Contest:
The Stars (11-35-3-3) return to Kearney for the final meeting with the Tri-City Storm (40-10-2-1) in the 2018-19 season.
Last Game:
Friday night saw the Stars take on the cross-state rival Tri-City Storm for the eighth time this season. In the first, Tri-City struck quickly. Ronnie Attard continued his torrid play, notching his 25th goal of the season just over three and a half minutes into the contest. Former Stars forward Shane Pinto added a power play goal at 5:18, deflecting a Ronnie Attard shots past Samuel Hlavaj for the 2-0 advantage. The Stars reversed course in the second half of the frame, following their successful kill of Tri-City's second power play. Bolstered by the return to even strength, Lincoln moved to the attack. At 13:04, Steven Agriogianis broke over the blue line and ripped a perfect shot over the shoulder of Jake Barczewski, cutting the deficit in half. The Storm seized back momentum in the second. Pressure from the beginning of the frame pushed the Stars back on their heels. Though Tri-City didn't score through their initial push, they limited the Lincoln forecheck. The Stars pushed back nearing the midway point of the period, but were unable to capitalize on a power play, and saw two shots ring the post. As the period progressed, chippy play intensified, forcing a stretch of four-on-four at 10:05. With extra space on the ice, Shane Pinto broke free behind the Stars defense, scoring his second tally of the game at 11:52. Less than a minute later, Keaton Pehrson found Colby Ambrosio open on the back door to take a 4-1 lead that held through the end of the second. In the third, Lincoln would slowly work their way back on the attack, and would see their efforts culminate in Arlo Merritt's first goal in his first game on a chip in front of Barczewski set up by Ryan Carmichael. The score brought life back to the Stars cause, but the Storm held through the last push and late Stars penalties to put the game to rest. At the horn, Lincoln dropped the contest 4-2. Samuel Hlavaj made 33 saves in the loss.
After beating the Stars Friday, the Storm moved east to take on the Omaha Lancers Saturday. A scoreless first saw Isaiah Saville and Jon Mor stop a combined 20 shots on goal in a hard-fought period. In the second, Cole Kodsi beat Saville on a feed from Travis Mitchell to put Omaha ahead 1-0 at 7:05. Brendan Furry tied the game against his former team five minutes later, when the former Lancer put home his 18th of the season on the power play. The goal set off a Tri-City avalanche of scoring. In the last 6:49 of the period, Joseph Molenaar, Shane Pinto, Ronnie Attard, and Elias Rosen all added goals to build a 5-1 Tri-City lead. In the third, Benji Eckerle, Ian Murphy, and Keaton Pehrson added three more to finalize an 8-1 win, the Strom's 40th of the season.
Head-to-Head:
Team Stats:
GF: TC-3.75 (t-4th) to LIN-2.56 (15th)
GA: TC-2.23 (1st) to LIN-4.08 (t-15th)
Shots For/G: TC-30.57 (4th) to LIN-27.48(14th)
Shots Against/G: TC-27.00 (5th) to LIN-31.83 (14th)
PP: TC-47/232, 20.3% (8th) to LIN-28/197, 14.2% (16th)
SHGA: TC-4 (t-4th) to LIN-9 (15th)
PK: TC-181/203, 89.2% (1st) to LIN-153/192, 79.7% (9th)
SHGF: TC 3 (t-10th) to LIN-2 (t-14th)
Leading Scorers:
G: TC-Ronnie Attard 26 to LIN-Brock Bremer 14
A: TC-Filip Forsmark and Zac Jones 35, LIN-Hunter Skinner 17
TP: TC-Ronnie Attard 52 to LIN-Brock Bremer 30
Goalies:
W: TC-Isaiah Saville 21, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli and Samuel Hlavaj 3
GAA: TC-Isaiah Saville 1.92, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli 3.72
SV%: TC-Isaiah Saville .926, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli .875
Shutouts: TC-Isaiah Saville 4, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli 1
MIN: TC-Isaiah Saville 1752, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli 1016
What to Watch For: :
Tri-City Transition:
Following Friday's loss to the Storm, head coach Cody Chupp re-emphasized the need to slow the Storm's pace of play.
"They're a team that skates well and transitions well," said Chupp. "They're not overly dissimilar from Team USA who we just saw: if you give them free transition from the neutral zone, your blue line, or their blue line, it's four guys jumping and going quickly and they make plays off the rush."
To counter a team that has won five in a row, while not allowing more than two goals in a game in that span will not be easy, but the approach will be straightforward.
"The chances that we created were very simple, hard-work chances," he said. "Get it, move it low to high, get it to the net. That's the name of the game. Continuing to wear down their defensive core is crucial because they skate well and the have the ability to join and play offense. You want to make contact with their bodies every time they touch the puck to start to wear them down as they go so that they have to start thinking about that next play they're going to make, and know that they're about to get hit every time. We have to do a more consistent job as a group in our details."
Tri-City Power Play:
The Storm play has been steadily rumbling out of the middle of the pack as the team continues along on its current win streak. The Tri-City man advantage has scored in four-straight games, going 7 for 20 (35.0%) and is coming off a four-goal effort against Omaha.
Skinner's Savvy from the Blue Line:
A player that stood out for the Stars on Friday was '01 defenseman Hunter Skinner. The 112th-ranked skater in Central Scouting's Midterm rankings, Skinner leads the stars defensive group with four goals and 21 points. He's tallied three assists in his last three games. On Friday, he rang the post twice in the second period, while playing with an edge throughout the contest.
"He's extremely athletic for starters," said Chupp. "For Stars fans that have watched the Krygiers over the past couple years, he has a lot of those same athletic qualities. His feet can allow him to be more aggressive in certain situations because of his ability to recover. He's a guy that played forward most of his life and then transitioned to defense only a year or two ago. When he was in Muskegon I think he played forward at times. He has some offensive ability, and some comfort in the offensive zone which is going to allow him to chip in on offense. It's huge for a defenseman to have that ability along with his speed that allows him to join rushes. The biggest thing with him is continuing to develop his defensive game. When I say he's similar to the Krygiers, sometimes for guys with really good feet and athletic ability, it's hard to calm those things down at times, and just stay patient, and trust that you're putting them into an area where the puck-carrier is going to be uncomfortable and that's where Hunter will continue to develop. He's a great kid, he loves video, he loves being coached, he'll continue to improve as he goes here and we're excited about him and his future."
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