Preview - Stars vs Black Hawks
January 5, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
SATURDAY, JAN. 5, 2019 | 7:05 P.M. | YOUNG ARENA
RADIO: LINCOLN STARS RADIO | WATCH: HOCKEYTV
Stars begin 2019 on the road to Iowa
Tonight's Contest:
The Stars (7-17-3-1) are on the road tonight to square off against the Waterloo Black Hawks (19-7-3-1) at Young Arena.
Last Game:
On New Year's Eve, the Stars traveled to Sioux Falls where they lost 4-2 to the Stampede. Sam Stevens tallied his second goal of the season at 15:51 on a shorthanded drive to the net set up by Blake Bride. In the second, the Stampede would tack on goals from Anthony Romano and Andre Lee through the first 8:35 of the frame. The 3-0 deficit was lessened when Josh Lopina scored off assists from Tristan Ashbrook and Tyler Johnson just past the halfway point of the period. Devlin McCabe brought the Stars back within one halfway through the third on helpers from Mason Klee and Shane Pinto. Artem Ivanyuzhenkov would draw a penalty shot on the next shift and score to reclaim a two-goal lead for Sioux Falls that would hold through the end of play. The 4-2 defeat marks the Stars seventh-straight loss.
The Black Hawks most recent action came against the aforementioned Stampede last night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. A 6-4 barn burner started with Joe Cassetti scoring twice in the first for the Black Hawks. With the confidence of a 2-0 lead in the second, Waterloo doubled their advantage with tallies from Solag Bakich and James Marooney on back-to-back shifts at 13:29 and 13:52. Stirred from their slumber, Sioux Falls duplicated the feat with two goals in their next two shifts, seeing Brian Chambers and Cade Borchardt cut their deficit in half in 14 seconds. Chambers would strike again with 28 seconds left in the period to enter the third with Waterloo leading 4-3. The Black Hawks added a much-needed insurance goal at 8:33 when Matej Blümel notched his 16th of the season. In similar fashion to the second period, Sioux Falls responded immediately with a Chambers hat trick, again bringing the Stampede back within one. Waterloo's lead prevailed into the final minutes of play, where Blümel fired his USHL-leading 17th goal home into an empty net to seal a 6-4 win.
Head-to-Head:
In two prior meetings on the season, the Black Hawks lead the season series 2-0. Their last match up came at the Ice Box back on December 14th. The Stars erupted out of the gate with three goals in the first 6:23 of play. Josh Lopina, Josiah Slavin, and Tristan Ashbrook scored to chase Waterloo starter Jared Moe in favor of Logan Stein. Stein hunkered down and allowed Waterloo breathing room to add two goals before the end of the period from Vladislav Firstov and Hank Sorensen. Emil Ohrvall tied the game with the only goal of the second period when he beat Jake Mucitelli off a turnover at 5:05. Vladislav Firstov gave Waterloo their first lead just 53 seconds into the third, an advantage that held into the final minutes of play. With the Stars net open in favor of an extra attacker, ?-hrvall seemingly put the game to bed with an empty-netter at 19:07. Samuli Niinisaari brought Lincoln back within one 17 seconds later to put the Black Hawks back on high alert for the final 36 seconds of play. They would hold on through one more Stars push to win 5-4.
By the Numbers:
GF: WAT-3.97 (2nd) to LIN-2.61 (15th)
GA: WAT-3.03 (6th) to LIN-3.68 (12th)
PP: WAT-41 for 125, 32.8% (1st) to LIN-16 for 113, 14.2% (16th)
PK: WAT-104 for 128, 81.3% (t-5th) to LIN-95 for 117, 81.2% (7th)
SHGF: WAT-6 (t-2nd) to LIN-1 (t-14th)
SHGA: LIN-5 (t-14th) to WAT-6 (16th)
What to Watch For:
Power Play:
The sticking point after the Stars last trip to Waterloo was the potency of the Black Hawks man-advantage. The Stars entered the November 17th contest with the league's then top-ranked penalty kill, facing off against the Black Hawks still top-ranked power play. Waterloo won the heavyweight match up handily, notching five power play goals in a 6-3 win. After their second meeting in Lincoln, the Black Hawks have converted at a 6-12 clip (50.0%) against the Stars PK this season. Against all other opponents, the Stars have a kill rate of 84.7%. The Black Hawks account for over one out of every four power play goals allowed by the Stars this season.
Lopina Setting a Tone:
Through his team's recent struggles, rookie Josh Lopina has been a bright spot. The '01 from Minooka, IL has scored a goal in each of his last two games and been a heady presence in front of the opposition's net and on the Stars second power play unit.
"Josh has been one of our most consistent players all season long," said Stars head coach Cody Chupp. "He's committed to working every single day and every single game. He's committed to being tough to play against and to competing every single day. That's what allows him to be so consistent. Whether the scoring is there or not, he's found a consistency in working his butt off every single day."
"Vets, second and third-year guys, see me [as a first-year guy], getting dirty in front, and they're like 'we should be doing that too,'" said Lopina. "They build off my energy, and I'll build off their energy. It's a good recipe."
Pick Your Poison:
The Black Hawks and Stars enter play with some heavy duty scoring threats. For Waterloo, Matej Blümel, Vladislav Firstov, and Emil Ohrvall comprise an impressive combined scoring total of 50 goals and 105 points in 85 games played this season. Ohrvall has given the Stars fits, scoring four points in each of his two previous games against Lincoln, good for a total of 5-3-8. Shane Pinto's second-highest point total of his currently active, ten-game point streak came in the first meeting with Waterloo. Pinto tallied two assists in the 6-3 loss. He's joined by Justin Lee and Tristan Ashbrook in holding multi-point efforts against the Black Hawks this year. Lee leads the Stars in defensive scoring with three goals and 11 assists on the year. His 14 points put him just inside the top-20 in scoring by defensemen in the entire USHL. Ashbrook, who saw his Clark Cup hopes ended by the Black Hawks last season, has recorded a goal and an assist in each meeting with Waterloo this season.
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