Stars roll 5-0, face Janesville in playoff opener

March 27, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


ALPENA - Drew Strandberg snuffed all 28 shots he faced, Eric McLintock scored a goal and assisted on two others, and the Traverse City North Stars closed out the 2009-10 regular season in style on Saturday, defeating Alpena by a 5-0 margin at Northern Lights Arena.

The North Stars, who finished the campaign 33-20-5, ended up in a tie with Marquette atop the NAHL North Division standings, but the Rangers claimed the top seed by virtue of more total victories (35). Marquette Traverse City will open the 2010 Robertson Cup Playoffs next weekend against third-seeded Janesville, hosting the Jets on Friday and Saturday evenings at Centre ICE arena.

"We have a lot of respect for Janesville," Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo said after Saturday's game. "They're big, they're strong, and they beat us up and swept us in our building the last time they were there."

McLintock and Andy Huff (Howell, MI/Honeybaked U18/Ferris St.) scored first period goals on Saturday, Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars/ Lake Superior St.) potted the lone second period marker, and Nick Shkreli (Romeo, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) and Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) added third period scores as Strandberg worked his fourth shutout of the season. His 24 victories are team single- season and career marks, and his 2.38 goals-against average is second all-time to C.J. Motte's 2.30.

"It was actually a pretty tight game early on," Palumbo said. "They came at us pretty hard at first, and outshot us something like 9-2 in the first few minutes before we were able to withstand it and take control of the play."

The Stars' opening-round opponent, Janesville, is coming off a weekend sweep - and pair of shutout losses - at the hands of Marquette. The Jets won six of the 10 meetings with the North Stars, including the last four.

"We have to play tougher against them if we want to be successful," Palumbo surmised. "We have to move our feet more and win some battles along the way. It isn't as much about reacting to something they do well as it is important for us to play a team game. We've shown that when we play with that team focus we've experienced success."

The Stars and Jets will open the best-of-five North Division semifinals on Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3 at Centre ICE arena. The series will shift to Janesville for Games 3 and 4 before a return to Traverse City for a possible Game 5 on Sunday, April 11.

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.



North American Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2010


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