Stars Roll Past Gamblers 7-3
January 26, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
Green Bay, WI - Round two of the Stars-Gamblers saw the Stars back at the Resch Center on Saturday night.
Picking up positive momentum from the previous night's shootout loss, the Stars stole the show in the first period with three power play goals. The first came off Samuli Niinisaari's shot through a Ryan Doolin screen to beat Green Bay goalie Maxim Zhukov. Michael Colella picked up his first point with the Stars with the primary helper, while Hunter Skinner notched his 13th assist on the secondary apple. Green Bay mustered a good push in response to the goal, but was stopped by Samuel Hlavaj. The rookie netminder was lights out in the first, stopping all 13 shots sent his way in the opening 20 minutes. Matthew Barbolini gave the Stars their second goal when he tipped home a Jordan Power shot, set up by a Brock Bremer assist. Lincoln rounded out their first-period scoring with Bremer finding a Matthew Barbolini rebound behind Zhukov, where he drove it home for the 3-0 lead. Josh Lopina was credited with the secondary assist.
The Midwest became the Wild West in the second. Green Bay dominated the opening eight minutes but were thwarted time and again by a red-hot Hlavaj. Jackson Perbix finally broke through at 7:22 off feeds from Ethan Frisch and Jesse Tucker. Over the next three minutes of play, the Stars seized back command with three-straight goals. The first came from Brock Bremer after he drove the net and swatted a puck through a scrum for the 4-1 lead. Michael Colella added his first with the Stars at 10:16 after Steven Agriogianis picked up the puck from Wyatt Schlaht and sauced it perfectly to a crashing Colella for his sixth of the year. The goal chased Maxim Zhukov in favor of Evan Fear. Brock Bremer welcomed Fear and capped the surge with the Stars first hat trick of the season at 10:37. Josh Lopina deftly stripped the puck away from the exiting Green Bay rush, flipping it across to Barbolini who found Bremer for the 6-1 lead. Jackson Perbix wouldn't relent. After falling down to a five-goal deficit, Perbix surged back for goals at 17:23 and 19:00 to trim the Stars lead to three heading into the third.
A relatively quiet final period of regulation saw the Stars continue to fend off several good opportunities from the Gamblers as Samuel Hlavaj continued to frustrate the Green Bay attack. The Stars would draw two penalties down the stretch. On the first, Samuli Niinisaari was robbed by the iron on what would have been his second of the night. On the second penalty, Caleb Rule would snipe a puck past Evan Fear for the 7-3 lead, which would hold through the end of the contest. In his first win with the Stars, Samuel Hlavaj was excellent, stopping 45 of 48 shots. The Stars power play stole the show with four goals in five trips, while the penalty kill was a perfect two-for-two.
After claiming three of a possible four points on the weekend, the Stars will return home Wednesday night to take on the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 7:05 pm. Enjoy All You Can Eat Hockey at single games by purchasing a group of five or more, or grab one of our multi-game memberships to secure the same seat each game. Parking is completely FREE this season!
United States Hockey League Stories from January 26, 2019
- Offensive Outburst Spurs Steel Past Force 8-2 - Chicago Steel
- Stars Roll Past Gamblers 7-3 - Lincoln Stars
- Stampede Rally Late to Top Madison - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Tri-City Defeats Des Moines 7-4 - Tri-City Storm
- Phantoms Top Lancers in Shootout, 4-3 - Omaha Lancers
- Flying Aces Bounce Back to Defeat Team USA 4-1 - Central Illinois Flying Aces
- Preview - Stars at Gamblers - Lincoln Stars
- Gameday Preview: Tri-City Set for Road Game against Des Moines - Tri-City Storm
- Storm Defeat Phantoms 7-3 in Opening Game of Weekend - Tri-City Storm
- Stars Fall to Gamblers in Shootout - Lincoln Stars
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