Stars Clamp K-Wings, 4-0
February 18, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release
TRAVERSE CITY - Sean Murphy scored a pair of goals, and Kyle Laslo stopped all 36 shots he faced on Friday evening at Centre ICE Arena, leading the Traverse City North Stars to a 4-0 shutout of North Division rival Kalamazoo in the first leg of a two-game series.
After Mitchell Snider (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars NAHL) opened the scoring 4:25 into the second period with a power play marker, Murphy (Cary, NC/Tri-City USHL) closed out the frame - and opened the third - with his 16th and 17th goals of the season. Stars Captain Jared Van Wormer (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars NAHL) made it 4-0 with 6:08 to play, and the hosts brought home the blanking by weathering 13 third-period shots.
"We got off to a good start, and we had a pretty complete third period, but we didn't perform as well as we'd have liked during the second," assessed Stars GM Anthony Palumbo. "We seemed to lose a little focus, but we recovered down the stretch. We obviously got great goaltending from Kyle, and the defensive corps was solid."
Traverse City improved to 22-15-5 and closed to within 10 points of second-place Kalamazoo (28-15-3) in the North Division standings, making Saturday's return engagement an even more critical proposition.
"When you win the first one, you have to come back with even more energy because you know they will," Palumbo said. "Hopefully, you've built at least some momentum to use as a springboard to do that with when you win that first one. I think we have to realize that this is the team we're chasing, and with playoff spots on the line every game is important."
Michal Toman (Prievidza, Slovakia/TC North Stars NAHL) assisted on both of the Stars' second, period goals. Jake Peacock (Traverse City, MI/Bay Reps HS) drew the primary assist on Murphy's first of the game, while Chris Leibinger (Saginaw, MI/TC North Stars NAHL/Michigan Tech) and Chris Waterstreet (Northville, MI/TC North Stars NAHL) set up Van Wormer's career-high 14th of the campaign.
Laslo (Fenton, MI/Osoyoos KIJHL) upped his record to 19-12-4, penning his third shutout of the season. He boasts a 2.56 goals-against average to go with a .911 save percentage.
The North Stars and K-Wings will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday evening at Centre ICE; Face-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
North American Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2012
- Bruins Earn 4-1 Win - Austin Bruins
- Four Goal Third Delivers Kalamazoo Two Points - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Barber Lifts Wild Over Brown Bears - Wenatchee Wild
- Stars Clamp K-Wings, 4-0 - Traverse City North Stars
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