Stars fall to Jets, 4-3

Published on February 21, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - The Janesville Jets overcame a trio of one-goal deficits, and levied a shorthanded goal 8:08 into the third period to claim a 4-3 victory over the host Traverse City North Stars on Saturday evening at Centre ICE arena.

The Stars had leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, but managed a mere two shots on net in the final stanza to suffer just their fifth home loss of the season. With the setback, Traverse City (26-15-4) missed an opportunity to pull ahead of idle Marquette in the NAHL North Division standings, burning its game-in-hand against the Rangers in the loss.

"They worked harder than us, they played harder than us, and they deserved to beat us," said TC head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "We didn't have the same effort, and we played with a lack of discipline, which showed up in the number of power play chances - which is also indicative of our inability to draw penalties."

Garrett Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) gave TC a 1-0 with the only goal of the first period, roofing his 20th of the season. After the Jets tied the affair on the power play 5:44 into the second period, Bo Jacobs (Twin Lake, MI/TC North Stars) scored his fourth goal of the season - and third in the last four games - on a rope from just inside the blue line - to help the Stars re- establish a one-goal advantage.

That lead lasted less than three minutes before Janesville made it an even-up affair, but Ryan Amin (Canton, MI/Kenai River NAHL) one-timed a pass from Taylor Burden (Carmel, IN/Indiana Ice U18) for a 3-2 bulge. The Jets scored the next two - the first with 44 seconds left in the middle frame, and the winner near the mid-point of the third to pick up two points in the standings. Kurt Aker's clincher was a shorthanded effort - an NAHL-high 14th of the season against Traverse City.

"We didn't get the bounces tonight, but we didn't do all the little things that add up to a different outcome," Palumbo added. "Things like getting the puck out of the corner, finishing checks, head-manning, gaining territory, not getting the puck deep - those are the things they did and we didn't."

Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/Thunder Bay SIJHL) returned for the first time since suffering an injury in the first period of a game back on Jan. 22, stopping 15 of 19 shots. Five North Stars players collected an assist apiece: Burden, Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars), Nilan Nagy (Canonsburg, PA/Pittsburgh Predators U18), Doug Clifford (Woodhaven, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL), and Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars), who dished his team-best 25th of the season. Phil Wendecker (Westland, MI/TC North Stars), who had accrued a Lady Byng- like 34 penalty minutes through his first 127 games with Traverse City, scored perhaps the most convincing victory of the evening, unleashing a flurry of overhand rights to William Rose early in the third period.

The teams will square off again on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the final matinee game of the regular season. Nine of the final 13 games are slated for Centre ICE arena, including Wednesday evening games on March 10 (Alpena) and March 17 (Motor City).

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2010


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