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USHL Lincoln Stars

Preview: Stars at Lumberjacks

March 23, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release


SATURDAY, MAR. 23, 2019 | 6:15 PM CDT | 7:15 PM EDT | L.C. WALKER ARENA

RADIO: LINCOLN STARS RADIO | WATCH: HOCKEYTV

Stars look to avenge January loss with new faces in lineup

Tonight's Contest:

The Stars (11-36-3-3) cross time zones to square off with the Muskegon Lumberjacks (36-15-3-1) tonight at L.C. Walker Arena

Last Game:

Tuesday saw the Stars and Storm meet for the final time in the 2018-19 season. In the first, the Stars stepped out of the dressing room with good pace, but allowed two mistakes to bite them. At 4:56, Elias Rosen toe-dragged his way around the Stars defense and beat Samuel Hlavaj for the 1-0 advantage. The second miscue came in the final minute of the period. In the attacking end, the Stars lost the puck at the top of the circles, resulting in a 2-on-0 breakaway in the opposite direction. Colby Ambrosio fed Ian Murphy for the bar-down score, putting the Storm ahead 2-0 at the end of one. The Stars attack wasn't poor in the frame. They out-shot Tri-City 10-9, but were foiled by Isaiah Saville on several quality chances. The Storm made sure to build off of the momentum from their late-period goal with an immediate strike to open the second. On an entry into the Stars zone, Filip Forsmark left a drop pass for Connor McMenamin, who promptly ripped it through for the 3-0 lead. Penalties would sink the Stars efforts for the remainder of the frame. With at least one man in the box for most of the final 12:00 of the second, Lincoln found themselves beset with pressure in their own zone. Shane Pinto added the Storm's fourth tally of the game off a Ronnie Attard rebound that hovered in mid-air long enough for Pinto to swat the puck through for the decisive 4-0 lead. Penalties continued to mount in the third, but the Stars pushed throughout the frame. Twice Lincoln nearly scored, and twice the goal was confirmed as non-scored following replay review. Through a slew of PIM's in the second half of the third, Lincoln ended the contest on a major power play. Zach Dubinsky struck for his first goal since returning from an injury sustained back in October, spoiling Tri-City's shutout with 1:41 to spare. Michael Colella followed suit and scored with just six seconds left off assists from Caleb Rule and Samuli Niinisaari, finishing the contest in a 4-2 score.

While the Stars had off Friday, Muskegon played host to the Youngstown Phantoms. The Phantoms took the initiative early, with Trevor Kuntar beating goalie Brandon Bussi on the power play at 4:51 for the 1-0 lead. A tough night on special teams for Muskegon began at 9:04 following a Youngstown interference penalty. With 38 seconds remaining in the Lumberjacks man advantage, Dalton Messina found the puck and beat Bussi for the shorthanded goal and the 2-0 Phantoms lead. In the second period, Kuntar wasted little time notching his second of the night, scoring just 45 second in to put Youngstown in the driver's seat. Shortly after the tally, Bussi was replaced with Ryan McInchak in the Muskegon net. Undaunted, the Phantoms would tack on another power play goal at 9:39, courtesy of Brett Murray. Messina's second of the contest came less than a minute later. The 5-0 lead would hold until the 6:09 mark of the third, when Nolan Sullivan produced his 18th of the year, assisted by Ryan Savage, giving the Lumberjacks their lone goal of the night. At the horn, Muskegon fell by a score of 5-1. In spite of this, the Lumberjacks outpaced Youngstown for significant portions of play. Shots read 39-27 in their favor, including a third period in which they out-shot the Phantoms 18-2. Stellar in the win for Youngstown was netminder Chad Veltri, who stopped 38 of 39, and the Phantoms special teams that combined for three goals while allowing none.

Head-to-Head:

The Stars and Lumberjacks met at the Ice Box back on January 20th. In a barn burner that saw 10 combined goals, the Stars started on the right foot in the first. Josh Lopina and Tristan Ashbrook each recorded their eighth goals of the season to give Lincoln a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Egor Afanasyev responded for the Lumberjacks just five minutes into the second period to halve the deficit. Alex Yakovenko followed suit at 10:39 to pull the score even. With 14 seconds left in the frame, Josh Lopina tallied his second of the evening on a power play, pushing Lincoln back ahead heading into intermission. In the third, Muskegon erupted for three straight goals in the first 4:40 of play. Danil Gushchin, Alex Yakovenko, and Owen Farris all struck at even strength to flip the ice and the scoreboard in the Lumberjacks favor. Josh Lopina's productive night wasn't over however, as his pass to Steven Agriogianis set up a Justin Lee strike to pull Lincoln back within one at 12:58. The score chased starter Ryan McInchak from the contest in favor of Brandon Bussi. Muskegon limited Lincoln's efforts to draw even, allowing just one shot over the final 7:02. Through the final Stars push with the extra attacker on, the Lumberjacks held firm. With one second to spare, Mikael Hakkarainen's empty netter secured the 6-4 Muskegon win.

Team Stats:

GF: MUS-3.73 (6th) to LIN-2.55 (15th)

GA: MUS-2.73 (4th) to LIN-4.08 (16th)

Shots For/G: MUS-32.73 (3rd) to LIN-27.38(15th)

Shots Against/G: MUS-29.36 (11th) to LIN-31.81 (14th)

PP: MUS-39/230, 17.0% (13th) to LIN-30/204, 14.7% (15th)

SHGA: LIN-9 (15th) to MUS-12 (17th)

PK: MUS-201/238, 84.5% (3rd) to LIN-166/206, 80.6% (8th)

SHGF: MUS 7 (t-7th) to LIN-2 (t-14th)

Leading Scorers:

G: MUS-Egor Afanasyev 23 to LIN-Brock Bremer 14

A: MUS-Egor Afanasyev and Alex Yakovenko 32 to LIN-Hunter Skinner 17

TP: MUS-Egor Afanasyev 55 to LIN-Brock Bremer 30

Goalies:

W: MUS-Brandon Bussi 30, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli and Samuel Hlavaj 3

GAA: MUS-Brandon Bussi 2.40, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli 3.72

SV%: MUS-Brandon Bussi .917, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli .875

Shutouts: MUS-Brandon Bussi 7, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli 1

MIN: MUS-Brandon Bussi 2576, LIN-Jacob Mucitelli 1016

What to Watch For: :

New Faces:

As the 2018-19 USHL regular season winds into its final weeks, the Stars are getting a good look at their potential future. '01-born Affiliates Charlie Schoen, and Alex Aslanidis are all expected to play this weekend. Schoen is fresh off a strong showing in his home state of Minnesota with time spent playing for Team Northwest and Andover High. Committed to Arizona State, the forward has notched 7-10-17 in 21 games for Northwest and 17-33-50 (UMHSEHL) in 25 games for Andover (USHS-MN) this year.

Coming off a successful season for Avon Old Farms School, Aslanidis dressed Tuesday for the Stars but did not play while serving in a backup role. The goalie towers in the crease at 6-5, 210 lbs and comes with time played in both high school (Avon Old Farms School) and the USNTDP. In one game for USA, he came on in relief and stopped five of six shots in 9:48 of play against Lake Superior State. The New Jersey-born netminder is committed to Providence College.

Also returning for Lincoln are a pair of '01-born affiliate forwards in Arlo Merritt, who's fresh off scoring his first goal eight days ago against Tri-City, and Zach Urdahl, who accomplished the same feat against Green Bay, not once, but twice back in January. Merritt is committed to Ohio State, while Urdahl will stay near home at the University of Wisconsin. Both Big 10-bound players add size-Merritt 6-3 190, and Urdahl 6-0 170-and skill to the Stars forward ranks.

Who's In Net for Muskegon?:

The Lumberjacks boast the Eastern's Conference's best record. They have talent in spades at each position, and goaltender is no exception. Brandon Bussi has played in all but seven games for Muskegon this season. He's the owner of 30 of the Lumberjacks 36 wins, five more than any other goalie in the league.

Bussi leads the USHL with seven shutouts, and ranks top five in minutes (2nd, 2576) , save percentage (3rd, .917), goals against average (4th, 2.40) , shots faced (3rd, 1234), and games played (48, 2nd). The Western Michigan commitment came into the January 20th contest against the Stars in relief in the last seven minutes of play, stopping the lone shot he faced, ending a Stars comeback effort.

Coming off his shortest start of the season, will Muskegon elect to roll with Bussi or his backup, Ryan McInchak? The latter made the start against the Stars earlier this season, but despite earning the win in the decision, he was chased after allowing a season-high four goals. The Michigan-native has provided quality minutes in his backup role to Bussi throughout the year, and has a 6-2 record to show for it. He'll be eager to seek redemption against Lincoln if given the opportunity.

A Blockbuster Trade Re-Visited:

The Stars traded defensemam Declan Carlile and forward Max Ellis for defenseman Hunter Skinner and forward Brock Bremer shortly before the two teams met in January. In that contest Ellis recorded an assist and Carlile was +2 for Muskegon. Skinner chipped in an helper while Bremer added two more assists for the Stars.

Bremer and Skinner have moved into prominent roles with Lincoln as the former leads all skaters in points with 14 goals and 30 points, while the latter is the leading scorer along the Stars blue line with 4-17-21.

Max Ellis has been a steady veteran presence for the Lumberjacks, currently ranking fifth in points among Muskegon forwards with 13-18-31. He's scored five goals and six assists in 20 games with the Lumberjacks. Declan Carlile has been a steady, durable presence on the back end for Muskegon, skating in 22 games, and holding a healthy line of 3-13-16 in a total of 54 games played in 2018-19.

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United States Hockey League Stories from March 23, 2019


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