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Preview - Stars vs Fighting Saints

January 12, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL) - Lincoln Stars News Release


SATURDAY, JAN. 12, 2019 | 7:05 P.M. | MYSTIQUE ICE CENTER

RADIO: LINCOLN STARS RADIO | WATCH: HOCKEYTV

Tonight's Contest:

The Stars (8-19-3-1) hit the road to Iowa to take on the Dubuque Fighting Saints (14-12-3-3).

Last Game:

Last night, the Stars welcomed the Buccaneers back to the Ice Box 24 hours after losing 4-2 to Des Moines. In the first period, the pair of sides skated to a draw. Both goalies-Samuel Hlavaj for Lincoln and James Durham for Des Moines-played well in net as each side saw a small handful of high-quality chances denied to cap a relatively even opening 20. Like the night prior, penalty trouble put the Stars in a hole to begin the middle frame. After finding themselves on the wrong end of a 5-on-3 power play, Lincoln allowed the game's first goal to Mac Welsher. Shortly after the Stars returned to full strength, Rylee St. Onge added to the Des Moines lead when he worked his way free in front to beat Hlavaj. The second half of the period saw the Stars have plenty of time on the power play, but extended their power play drought through three more tries in the second. In the third, the Stars finally found life when Josiah Slavin capitalized on a power play set up by Josh Lopina and Devlin McCabe. The goal at 9:29 put a blemish on what was an otherwise stellar performance for James Durham. Back within one, the Stars appeared to have momentum, until Mac Welsher ripped through his second goal of the night past Hlavaj just over a minute later. Though the Stars pressed hard down the stretch, they were time and again denied by a stellar Durham, who finished with 34 saves on 35 shots, allowing Brady Meyer to put home an empty-netter with 0.2 to play.

Last night, the Fighting Saints were busy in Green Bay taking on the Gamblers in an overtime thriller. An even trade of goals began in the first when Jackson Perbix score at 19:19 in the first. The Saints would answer at 16:07 in the second, when Aidan Fulp beat Green Bay goalie Evan Fear for his second of the year. Jesse Tucker re-gained the lead for the Gamblers just 37 seconds into the third, besting Aaron Randazzo for the 2-1 lead. Fear and the Green Bay defense would hold until the final second of regulation. James Sanchez found the net with 0.2 seconds left on the clock to force overtime. Already having assists on both of the prior Dubuque goals, Matias Maccelli capped a three-point night by putting home the game-winner at 3:53 into the overtime period.

Head-to-Head:

The Stars and Saints have met only once previously this season. Back on October 13th, Dubuque emerged with a 5-3 win at the Ice box. Dylan Jackson scored his first two goals of the season in the first 5:02 of play, gathering assists from his twin brother Ty and Riese Gaber on both scores. Josh Lopina would net his first goal for the Stars at 15:39 of the opening frame, sending the game into the second with a 2-1 Dubuque lead. A scoreless middle frame was followed by an explosive third period. Logan Britt notched his first Stars tally at 3:04, which was followed a minute later by Caleb Rule's third of the season. The sudden Lincoln lead lasted only a 1:12. Chris Lipe bested Tyler Johnson at 5:34 to draw the score even at three. Ty Jackson's first goal at 17:41 gave the Saints a lead they'd never surrender. Despite the Stars last-ditch push, J.D. Greenway found the empty net with four seconds to go, sealing a 5-3 Dubuque victory.

By the Numbers:

GF: DBQ-3.25 (11th) to LIN-2.68 (15th)

GA: DBQ-3.34 (9th) to LIN-3.71 (t-13th)

PP: DBQ-23 for 104, 22.1% (4th) to LIN-19 for 129, 14.7% (16th)

PK: LIN-103 for 127, 81.1% (4th) to DBQ-90 for 132, 73.8% (17th)

SHGF: LIN-1 (t-14th) to DBQ-1 (t-14th)

SHGA: DBQ-4 (t-11th) to LIN-6 (t-15th)

What to Watch For:

Struggles Align:

Both teams enter action with splits they'd like to reverse. The Stars are 2-10-0-0 on the road this season, and will sort through a number of long travel itineraries through the coming weeks. The Fighting Saints have just two wins in their last eight tries at home. To that point, power play could be especially crucial to tonight's outcome. The Saints have the fourth-best power play in the USHL, but also possess a league-low 73.8 percentage on the penalty kill. The Stars power play started slowly this weekend, but scored a goal last night, giving them their fifth tally in the last six games. Though Lincoln's overall power play percentage is ranked 16th, the Stars jump to 8th on the man advantage while on the road, scoring at a rate of 18.8%.

The Jackson Two:

Dylan and Ty Jackson were back in Lincoln on Tuesday for the Top Prospects game, and though they didn't fill the scoresheet the same way as they did in their first trip to the Ice Box, the duo is as dynamic as any in the league. Each recorded three-points in their win over Lincoln earlier in the season. Even in a losing effort for Team East at Top Prospects, the twins combined with Matias Maccelli to be a catalyst for the East's offense, generating plenty of chances and zone time.

Gaining Time:

The Stars line of Egor Postnov, Grant Johnson, and Wyatt Schlaht saw an uptick in minutes last night against Des Moines. Though they were held off the score sheet, the trio was one of the more consistent offensive presences, generating a handful of strong chances and shots. Their continued emergence would be a major boost to the Stars effort to improve secondary scoring.

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Next Sunday, Faith & Family Day returns to the Ice Box for another matinee for an afternoon of faith and community as well as a post-game skate with the Stars and a playing of the movie Facing the Giants. A portion of ticket sales for Faith & Family Day will benefit Food for the Hungry, a faith-based mission to build clean water solutions in third-world countries. Last year, the Stars and the Lincoln Stars Foundation helped to raise over $230,000 toward clean water initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Enjoy All You Can Eat Hockey at single games by purchasing a group of five or more, or grab one of our multi-game memberships to secure the same seat each game. Parking is completely FREE this season!


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United States Hockey League Stories from January 12, 2019


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