Stars Pound Chicago, 9-1

Published on January 7, 2011 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - The Traverse City North Stars went down 1-0 early in their series opener against Chicago on Friday evening at Centre ICE Arena.

Then the floodgates opened.

The host Stars evened things up before the end of the first period, levied five straight goals in the second, and added three more in a less-than-competitive third period to finish off a 9-1 triumph over the Hitmen. Michael Szmatula (Commerce Twp., MI/Lansing Capitals U18) scored a pair of goals, Sean Murphy (Cary, NC/Austin NAHL) added a goal and two assists, while veterans Alec Shields (Pittsburgh, PA/TC North Stars), Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) and Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) dished out a pair of assists apiece.

"I looked at the scoresheet after the game, and I was pleased to see a good balance - lots of different names getting into it on the offensive end," said Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "Instead of the same guys, we had a lot of contributions and that's a good thing."

Traverse City improved to 19-12-1, and moved past Michigan into fourth place in the NAHL North Division for the moment. Tyler Marble (Howell, MI/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) stopped 19 shots, and improved to 16-10-1, while lowering his goals-against average to 3.22.

After Jared Van Wormer (Traverse City, MI/TC Central HS) skated directly from the bench to the slot late in the first, took a perfect pass from Murphy and tied the game at 1-1 with 7:06 to go in the first. Szmatula opened the second - 22 seconds in - with a powerplay marker, followed by unassisted tallies from Alex Taulien (Crystal Lake, IL/Lansing Capitals U18) and Ryan Amin (Canton, MI/TC North Stars), with Amin's coming with TC in a shorthanded situation. Mitchell Snider (Traverse City, MI/TC West HS) and red-hot Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) capped the five-goal cloudburst in the second. Murphy, Szmatula, and defenseman Alex Wiese (White Lake, MI/TC North Stars) chipped in with third period goals, putting the finishing touches on a rare North Division rout.

"I know we were tied 1-1 after a period, but we were all over them," Palumbo explained. "But two things a fairly likely: We won't be that sharp tomorrow night, and they'll come back with a much better effort. We have to be ready for them, because I suspect they're not very happy with that effort, and will be ready to go."

The teams face-off again on Saturday at Centre ICE Arena at 7 p.m. The contest will be followed by a 'Skate with the Stars' event. Fans are welcome to use free rental skates provided by Centre ICE Arena, but kids must furnish their own helmets.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2011


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