USHL Sioux Falls Stampede

Stampede Roll over Chicago 4-1 at the PREMIER Center

Published on February 6, 2015 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release


Sioux Falls, SD-A three goal first period propelled the Stampede to a convincing 4-1 victory over the Chicago Steel before another impressive crowd of 6,398 at the PREMIER Center on Friday night. Parker Tuomie scored twice while Kieffer Bellows tallied a goal and an assist and Stefanos Lekkas stopped 33 of 34 shots to lead the Herd to victory. The win improved the Stampede's record to 19-15-5 and into a fourth place tie with Des Moines in the Western Conference. Sioux Falls is now 9-1-1 in their last 10 home games and 13-6-3 on home ice this season.

After somewhat a slow start to the game for the Herd, they quickly caught fire at the 12:54 mark when newly acquired forward Trey Bradley sent a quick pass to the right circle for Parker Tuomie who one-timed the shot over the right shoulder of Chicago goaltender Lassi Yrjola to make it a 1-0 game. Troy Loggins earned an assist on the goal. All three players played on the same line for half a season last year with the Wenatchee Wild of the NAHL and they picked up right where they left off as 13 seconds later it was Tuomie again on another Loggins to Bradley to Tuomie connection and the PREMIER Center crowd of 6,398 erupted as the Herd built a 2-0 lead.

Four minutes later Sioux Falls built a 3-0 lead on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play as Cooper Marody sent a pass into the right circle for Logan O'Connor who sent a pass through the slot to the edge of the left circle where Kieffer Bellows tracked down the pass and one-timed the puck into the back of the net for his team leading 21st and to give Sioux Falls a 3-0 edge at the end of one period, despite being outshot 7-6.

It remained that way until the 12:42 of the second period when Dillon Eichstadt tallied his 5th goal of the season on the power play. Bellows sent a pass to the right point to Eichstadt who wristed a shot through traffic, through a screen provided by Logan O'Connor and right through the pads of Yrjola to give Sioux Falls a 4-0 advantage. The Steel would break the shutout bid at 16:47 when Fredrik Olofsson picked up a loose puck in the slot and sent the puck perfectly into the upper left hand corner of the net to make it a 4-1 game. Sioux Falls would hold onto that lead heading into the locker room as Chicago outshot the Herd 14-7 in the period.

Neither team would score in the third though the Steel had a power play opportunity that they were unable to convert on. The Steel fired 15 shots on Lekkas in the period, but he continued his strong play and kept Chicago off the board and led the Herd to their 19th victory of the season.

Chicago outshot the Herd 34-16 on the night and were 0-for-3 on the power play while the Stampede were 1-for-1.

Sioux Falls returns to action Saturday night when they host the Fargo Force at 7:05 PM at the PREMIER Center. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates to the game and skate with their favorite players for 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game. Several Stampede players will be made available for autographs near the ice for non-skating fans as well. Tickets are available through the KELOLAND Box Office or any Ticketmaster outlet.

Check out the Sioux Falls Stampede Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2015


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