Stars salvage two points
Published on February 28, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release
ALPENA - Kyle Jean (JEEN) scored a pair of goals and added an assist, Dan Radke (RAD-key) chipped in with a goal and assists on two others, and goalie C.J. Motte lapped up 21 shots as the Traverse City North Stars claimed a 3-1 victory on Saturday night at Northern Lights Arena. The Stars bounced back from a 6-3 setback to Alpena on Friday at Centre ICE arena.
"We won the special teams battles tonight, and thatâs something we hadn't done all weekend," said Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "It was sort of the opposite of Thursday and Friday, plus we didn't give up as many grade-A scoring chances either."
Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/TC North Stars) kicked off TC's power play cavalcade at 9:17 of the first period on assists from Radke (Orinda, CA/Soo Indians AAA) and Motte (St. Clair, MI/Honeybaked AAA). After the host Diggers evened things up late in the second period, Radke levied his fifth of the season with 1:13 left before the second intermission.
Traverse City began the third period on a seven-minute power play courtesy of an Alpena fighting major, fighting instigator and game ejection, and made it sting, as Jean notched his second of the game 2:26 into the final stanza. Radke and Phil Wendecker (Westland, MI/TC North Stars) assisted. Motte and the North Stars defensive unit closed up shop the rest of the way.
"We showed a little more of the desire - the will to win tonight," Palumbo asserted. "We had two tough losses that may have looked lopsided in the box score but really weren't so it feels good to come back and close out by picking up some points."
With the victory, Traverse City (28-14-6) lowered its âmagic number' - the number of variables that must occur to mathematically ensure a postseason berth - to two. Any combination of Marquette losses and North Stars victories puts the latter into the playoff field.
Traverse City goes on the road for eight of the final 10 regular season contests, starting next weekend when the club travels to Ann Arbor to face off against the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 squad in a Friday-Saturday series.
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.
North American Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2009
- Phantoms Ride Chaney's Hat Trick to 9-2 Rout - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Blanks St. Louis, 1-0 - U.S. National Team
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Falls to Bemidji St., 6-3 - U.S. National Team
- Machine can't get by Phantoms, 9-3 - Motor City Metal Jackets
- Stars salvage two points - Traverse City North Stars
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