
Stars Shamrock Motor City, 4-1
March 17, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release
TRAVERSE CITY - With just a handful of games remaining in the 2009-10 regular season, and three teams jousting for position in the hotly-contested NAHL North Division standings, every contest takes on added significance.
Following a 4-1 win over Motor City on Wednesday at Centre ICE arena, the Traverse City North Stars did their part in making this weekend's three-game showdown with North co-leader Marquette a monster series.
Alec Shields (Grosse Pte. Woods, MI/Pittsburg Predators U18) had a goal and assist, Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) and Travis White (Sterling Heights, MI/TC North Stars) dished out two assists each, and Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/Thunder Bay SIJHL) stopped 21 of 22 shots to spearhead the decisive victory.
"A 60-minute effort, a lot like last Wednesday (a 3-0 win over Alpena)," offered Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo, whose club improved to 29-18-5. "We've done what we had to do this week with our two weekeday games. Tonight, we had an effective forecheck, we won some battles, and had our highest shot output (41) in a while."
Shields opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period (17:05) before the hosts erupted for a pair of second-stanza markers in a span of 2:44: Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) redirected a long-range blast from Chris Heineman (New Boston, MI/TC North Stars) at 13:03, followed by a tip-in from Chris Salomone (Homer Glen, IL/TC North Stars) at 15:47. After Motor City corralled a turnover deep in the Stars zone and converted it into a score 3:59 into the third frame, Dan Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) reinstated TC's three-goal bulge with a power-play wrister from just above the goal line.
Strandberg improved to 20-8-2, upping his season save percentage to . 909 while shrinking his goals-against average to a paltry 2.40. While he's within a pair of victories of tying C.J. Motte for the team's single-season mark, McLintock became the team's all-time leader in penalty minutes, amassing 405 minutes of box time over 150 career outings.
The North Stars will play their final six games over nine days, beginning with Friday's 7 p.m. series-opening tilt with Marquette (31-20-1). The clubs will clash again on Saturday night at 7 p.m., with the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Friday's game is college night, with buck-per-draft beers and $2 select beers for college students age 21 and over (with ID). On Saturday, the first 100 junior high/middle school students get in free, while season ticketholders can each bring a friend for free on Sunday.
The regular season home finale on Mar. 26 against the Diggers is wedged between road games at Marquette (Mar. 25) and Alpena (Mar. 27).
North American Hockey League Stories from March 17, 2010
- Stars Shamrock Motor City, 4-1 - Traverse City North Stars
- Rangers to T.C. - Marquette Rangers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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