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USHL Sioux Falls Stampede

Stampede Move into Final Playoff Spot with Thrilling OT Win

April 5, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release


Sioux Falls, SD - Alex Stevens tied the game with 1:11 left in regulation and Joe Rutkowski (Rah-kow-skee) tallied the game winner 4:36 into overtime as the Herd rallied to down the Des Moines Buccaneers 4-3 Tuesday night before 5,024 fanatics at the PREMIER Center. The win moved the Stampede (30-24-4) into a 4th place tie with Fargo (31-25-2) heading into the final weekend of the season in which the Herd play a home-and-home series which begins Friday in Sioux Falls. Should the Stampede win the game in regulation, they would clinch a playoff berth in the West thanks to owning the tiebreaker. Should the Force win or earn a point, the season would all come down to Saturday in Fargo.

Parker Tuomie, Jack Suter, Alex Stevens and Joe Rutkowski all scored in the win for the Herd while Stefanos Lekkas put together another outstanding performance, stopping 34 shots to earn his 13th win in his last 16 games and 24th win overall on the season.

The Stampede wanted to get the PREMIER Center behind them Tuesday night early and they did just that when Parker Tuomie tallied his team leading 29th goal of the season 4:25 into the game. Jack Suter brought the puck over the Bucs line and dropped a pass into the left circle for Tuomie who quickly raced in and fired a shot past the stick side of Des Moines goaltender Nick MacNab to give the Herd a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the 14:14 mark of the period when Anea Ferrario blasted a shot from the right point that clanked off the left goal post and bounced to Nikita Pavlychev who tapped the puck into an empty net and tied the game 1-1. Des Moines headed into the locker room outshooting the Herd 16-9.

The Bucs took the crowd out of the game just 1:29 into the second period when they scored on a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal. Kenneth Hausinger found David Keefer to the left of the Stampede goal and Keefer sent a quick pass into the crease to Kobe Roth who tapped the puck into the net to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead. From there it was all Bucs who were putting all the pressure on the Herd, but the play of goaltender Stefanos Lekkas kept it a one-goal game. The Herd had a chance to tie at the 4:40 mark when Parker Tuomoie was awarded a penalty shot, but he was stopped by the pads of MacNab. Right when it appeared the Bucs may extend their lead, the Stampede tied the game at the 13:30 mark. Parker Tuomie took the puck behind the Bucs net and into the right circle before sending a perfect pass to a streaking Jack Suter who one-timed the puck into the back of the net to tie the game 2-2. The Herd outshot the Bucs 14-12 in the period.

The third period was full of excitement as both teams exchanged some quality scoring chances, but the score remained tied until the 6:13 mark when Des Moines regained the lead when Zach Jordan tipped in a perfect pass in the slot from Ty Pelton-Byce and past Lekkas to make it a 3-2 game. The Stampede kept pushing the period to try and come back, but it remained tied until the final minutes of the game. With a 1:11 left, the Herd pulled Lekkas for an extra attacker and Lawton Courtnall sent a perfect pass in the slot to Alex Stevens who blasted the puck through traffic and past the stick of MacNab to tie the game 3-3 and send all 5,024 fans in attendance onto their feet in celebration.

That sent the game into overtime and the extra session had everyone in the building on their feet. Des Moines nearly won the game with just under three minutes remaining when a shot rang off the goal post, but Lekkas stopped the rebound shot and moments later Joe Rutkowski danced around the Bucs defense on the left wing wall and cut into the slot where he backhanded a shot through the pads of MacNab to give the Herd the 4-3 victory.

Sioux Falls outshot the Bucs 14-8 in the third and 4-1 in the extra session to finish the night with 37 while Des Moines had 37 as well. Sioux Falls finished 0-for-1 on the power play while the Bucs were 0-for-2.

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 5, 2016


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