USHL Lincoln Stars

Stars Weekly

Published on March 26, 2018 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release


The Stars Weekly is a new weekly recap and preview of Stars news, games, and more. The Stars Weekly will be released every Monday during the 2017-18 season.

LAST WEEK...

Friday, March 23: Youngstown Phantoms 3, Stars 0Shots: Phantoms 20, Stars 34

PP: Phantoms 1-for-3, Stars 0-for-2

The Lincoln Stars (29-21-1-1) fell 3-0 to the Youngstown Phantoms (29-18-5-1) on Friday night at the Ice Box.

Phantoms forward Mike Regush (13:19 1st; PP, 14:34 1st) scored two quick goals to take a 2-0 lead in the opening period. The Phantoms scored again thanks to forward Jack Malone (PP, 8:56 3rd) to triple the lead, 3-0. Despite outpacing the Phantoms in shots, the Stars fell 3-0.

Phantoms goaltender Wouter Peeters (13-9-3) stopped all 34 shots in the win, while Stars netminder Tomáš Vomá?ka (20-17-0) saved 17 of 20 shots in the loss.

Saturday, March 24: Youngstown Phantoms 1, Stars 2 (SO)Shots: Phantoms 27, Stars 40

PP: Phantoms 1-for-6, Stars 0-for-4

The Lincoln Stars (30-21-1-1) outlasted the Youngstown Phantoms (29-18-5-2) in a 2-1 shootout win on Saturday night at the Ice Box.

Stars forward Paul Cotter (18:37 3rd) scored the first goal in the final two minutes of the game to take a 1-0 lead. Phantoms forward Tommy Parrottino (PP, 19:15 3rd) sent the game into overtime, 1-1, on the ensuing power play. In the shootout, Cotter (1st Round) and Casey Dornbach (2nd Round) scored for the Stars, and Phantoms forwards Mike Regush (2nd Round) and Eric Esposito (3rd Round) extended the extra contest. Stars forward Josiah Slavin (7th Round) sealed the 2-1 win with the final goal.

Stars goaltender Tomáš Vomá?ka (21-17-0) saved 26 of 27 shots in the win plus five of seven shots in the shootout, while Phantoms netminder Ivan Prosvetov (16-9-4) halted 38 of 39 shots in the loss as well as four of seven shots in the shootout.

THIS WEEK...

Friday, March 30 @ Fargo Force - 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 31 @ Fargo Force - 7:05 p.m.

The Lincoln Stars make their only trip to Scheels Arena this weekend, taking on the Fargo Force this Friday and Saturday night. The Stars have won both meetings against the Force at the Ice Box this season and now can win the season series with at least one win this weekend. The Stars have now won three-straight since last season but went 1-2-0-0 on the road last year. The Stars are now 30-22-2-1 against the Force since 2008-09 and 12-13-1-0 at Scheels Arena.

The Fargo Force moved their win streak to six games with 7-1 and 8-2 wins over the Omaha Lancers on Thursday and Friday, respectively, followed by a 3-1 victory on Sunday against Sioux City. 19 different players earned points with 10 earning multi-point weekend led by forward Spencer Meier with six points (1g, 5a). Meier and Ty Farmer (2+3=5) each tallied four points in Saturday's win, and A.J. Drobot led the team with three goals throughout the first two games. Goaltender Strauss Mann saved 39 of 41 shots during the first two games, and Ryan Bischel stopped 37 of 39 shots in the final two games.

Western Conference Outlook:

The Fargo Force came the first of four teams in the Western Conference to clinch a spot in the Clark Cup Playoffs during their three-win week. The Waterloo Black Hawks spread their point streak to nine games and share the top spot in the conference. The Omaha Lancers rebounded from their skid on Sunday to stay one point above the Sioux Falls Stampede for third place. The Tri-City Storm and Lincoln Stars are tied for fifth place and each have a chance to clinch the final two playoff spots this weekend. The Sioux City Musketeers still have an outside shot with eight games remaining, however the Des Moines Buccaneers have been officially eliminated from playoff contention.

STAR BITS...

The seven-round shootout was the longest of the season for the Stars but also keeps a strong post-regulation trend going. The shootout was the team's fourth that went longer than three rounds with the other three all going exactly three rounds (January 13, January 21, February 10), and the Stars are 3-1 in those games. Overall, the Stars are 6-1 in shootouts and 9-2 in games ending after regulation. Both records are the best in the USHL this season (.818 win percentage).

Forward Paul Cotter has recently led the Stars late in games, scoring the game-tying or game-winning goal in three-straight Saturday games. The Western Michigan commit scored the game-winning goal in the third period on March 10, tallied the game-tying goal with 1:05 remaining in a 2-1 overtime win on March 17, and scored Saturday's first goal with 1:23 remaining in the eventual 2-1 shootout win. Exactly half of his goals are either a game-tying or game-winning goal (6 GTG, 2 GWG). Cotter has totaled 33 points (16g, 17a) in 44 games this season.

IN THE COMMUNITY...

See the Stars as they take on the Fargo Force in North Dakota at Miller Time Pub & Grill for two official Stars Watch Parties this Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Come watch the Stars on the big screen at the bar as they hunt towards a potential playoff berth. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m. and coverage begins at 6:52 p.m.

Check out the Lincoln Stars Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from March 26, 2018


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