Stars Can't Stave off Black Hawks in 5-4 Loss
December 15, 2018 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
Lincoln, NE - On Friday, Lincoln hosted the Waterloo Blackhawks in the teams' second meeting of the season. After a tough loss Thurday, Lincoln came out swinging on Friday. After a scoreless five minutes, the Stars erupted for three goals over a span of 70 seconds. Josh Lopina powered a shot through on a great corner feed from Devlin McCabe to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 5:13. Jordan Power was credited with the secondary helper. 38 seconds later, Josiah Slavin deked his way through traffic and put a backhand shot past Black Hawks starter Jared Moe to make it 2-0. At 6:23 Tristan Ashbrook collected a rebound and deposited it to the twine to build a 3-0 lead. Waterloo switched their goalies after the score, but soon after switched to the attack. On a miscommunication that left the net empty, Waterloo capitalized when Vladislav Firstov put the puck home for his 14th goal of the season. Hank Sorensen added a power play goal on a perfect shot past Jake Mucitelli at 16:26 to bring the Black Hawks back within one to close the period.
In the second, the Black Hawks tied things up after Emil Ohrvall forced a turnover in front of Mucitelli and went five-hole for the score. The rest of the period saw teams trade unsuccessful chances and power plays as Mucitelli and Stein settled in. The score remained locked at three through 40 minutes of play.
In the third, Firstov struck again with a slap shot from the point giving just 5:06 in as the Black Hawks took their first lead of the night. After a lengthy third and solid play from the Waterloo penalty kill, the Stars were forced to pull Mucitelli late for the extra attacker. Ohrvall found the empty net to put Waterloo ahead 5-3 late. Samuli Niinisaari wouldn't go quietly as the defenseman ripped a shot through with 36 seconds to play, allowing the Stars one more empty net push. A big save by Stein on a heavy shot from Justin Lee combined with a late penalty against Lincoln caused time to run out on the Stars rally.
Lincoln will return to the ice tomorrow night with another showdown against Des Moines. To purchase tickets, call the Stars Box Office at (402) 474-7827, or order tickets online! 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!
United States Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2018
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- Sioux City Gets Big Shootout Victory Friday Night - Sioux City Musketeers
- Central Illinois Rallies to Defeat Des Moines, 3 to 2, in the Shootout - Central Illinois Flying Aces
- Stars Can't Stave off Black Hawks in 5-4 Loss - Lincoln Stars
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