Stars crush Motor City for 7th straight win

Published on October 18, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - The Traverse City North Stars scored a seventh straight victory on Saturday night, giving the Motor City Machine the deep six in the series finale at Centre ICE arena. Six different North Stars scored goals in the 6-2 triumph, tying the franchise mark for consecutive wins.

Traverse City raced to an early 2-0 lead, withstood Motor City's late first-period assault, and combusted for a four-goal cloudburst in the second stanza, remaining perfect at home at 6-0.

"For two and a half periods, we played very well tonight," surmised TC head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "The last eight minutes or so of the first period we stopped playing for a while, but we were able to get our feet going again in the second. I think we got up 2-0 and thought it was going to be easy, and then they took it to us for a couple of quick ones."

Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/TC North Stars) led the charge with a goal and a pair of assists, forging the game's first score (2:28 in), then assisting on David Johnstone's (Grand Ledge, MI/Team nXi AAA) even-up marker about eight minutes later.

The Machine (3-9) scored a pair of goals in a span of two and a half minutes to close the first period, but the second period belonged to the hosts. By the mid-point of the stanza the North Stars had amassed a four-goal bulge and cruised to their 10th win of the season against just a pair of defeats. Eric O'Hearn (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars), who was essentially automatic on face-offs and stingy on the penalty kill all weekend long, registered the eventual game- winner 3:08 into the second, followed by Travis White (Sterling Heights, MI/St. Louis NAHL) at 4:22 on a top-corner shocker from the right point, Garrett Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) at 8:23, and Chris Heineman's (New Boston, MI/TC North Stars) power play effort at 10:13.

"Once again, we got contributions from everyone, and I think that's what I'm happiest about," Palumbo added. "And we needed that tonight as much as we ever had."

The North Stars played with a very short bench with suspensions to four different players and Nate Urbaniak (Perrysburg, OH/TC North Stars) still hospitalized with pneumonia. Brandon Stephenson (Saline, MI/TC North Stars) worked the pipes for the home team, snuffing 19 shots on 21 attempts. Stephenson moved to 5-1 on the year, lowered his goals-against average to 2.30, and pushed his save percentage to . 901.

Traverse City improved to 10-2, and extended their lead in the NAHL North Division to seven points, as second-place Mahoning Valley dropped a 4-3 decision to Alpena across the state.

The North Stars' home stand continues next weekend with a Friday matchup against Alpena at Centre ICE. That series shifts to the eastern coast of the state on Saturday night at Northern Lights Arena.

We thank you, our media partners, for your continued interest in Traverse City North Stars hockey. If there is anything we can do to help facilitate any aspect of your coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us. You are a valued component of North Stars hockey.

For more information, call Lance-Michael Correia at (231) 632-5047, the Traverse City North Stars office at (231) 941-9200 or visit the team's Web site at: www.traversecitynorthstars.com.

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North American Hockey League Stories from October 18, 2008


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