Stars Weekly
Published on April 10, 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...
Wednesday, April 4: Des Moines Buccaneers 2, Stars 6Shots: Buccaneers 28, Stars 32
PP: Buccaneers 0-for-3, Stars 1-for-3
A four-goal second period helped the Lincoln Stars (32-22-1-1) to a 6-2 win over the Des Moines Buccaneers (20-29-4-3) on Wednesday night at the Ice Box.
Stars forward Devlin McCabe (2:08 1st) scored early to take the initial jump before Buccaneers forwards Nicholas Werbik (14:42 1st) and Mike Hardman (2:21 2nd) netted a pair to take a 2-1 lead. The Stars scored five-straight goals to finish the night starting with defenseman Cole Krygier (5:08 2nd) and followed by forwards Tristan Ashbrook (10:26 2nd) and Dominick Mersch (11:25 2nd), which doubled the lead, 4-2. Stars forwards Josiah Slavin (17:39 2nd) and Gustaf Westlund (PP, 14:15 3rd) finished the scoreline at 6-2.
Stars goaltender Tomáš Vomá?ka (23-18-0) saved 26 of 28 shots in the win, while Buccaneers netminder Jake Kucharski (8-13-2) halted 26 of 32 shots in the loss.
Friday, April 6: Stars 6, Tri-City Storm 2
Shots: Stars 42, Storm 21
PP: Stars 0-for-2, Storm 0-for-5
The Lincoln Stars (33-22-1-1) Storm forward Connor McMenamin (6:29 1st) scored first, but an answer from Stars forward Josiah Slavin (9:03 1st) leveled the score at 1-1. Storm forward Adam Goodsir (5:19 2nd) helped to briefly pull ahead, however the Stars finished with five-unanswered goals beginning seconds later from forward Logan Jenuwine (5:53 2nd) to tie the game, 2-2. Stars forward Dominick Mersch (18:55 2nd) netted the go-ahead goal at 3-2. Three more goals came in the third period from forwards Casey Dornbach (1:38 3rd), Slavin (2:23 3rd) and Devlin McCabe (10:51 3rd) to seal the 6-2 win. Stars goaltender Tomáš Vomá?ka (24-18-0) stopped 19 of 21 shots in the win, while Storm netminder Jake Barczewski (10-12-3) halted 36 of 42 shots in the loss. Saturday, April 7: Tri-City Storm 0, Stars 2Shots: Storm 32, Stars 24 PP: Storm 0-for-8, Stars 0-for-6 The Lincoln Stars (34-22-1-1) finished the regular season home schedule with a 2-0 win over the Tri-City Storm (29-25-2-2) on Saturday night at the Ice Box. Stars forward Josiah Slavin (8:31 1st) opened the game with the eventual game-winning goal to take a 1-0 lead. After a quiet second period, Stars forward Ashton Calder (7:23 3rd) provided insurance to double the lead, 2-0, and the Stars held off the Storm for the rest of the night. Stars netminder Derek Schaedig (10-4-2) stopped all 32 shots in the win, while Storm goaltender Jake Barczewski (10-13-3) saved 22 of 24 shots in the loss. THIS WEEK... Friday, April 13 @ Omaha Lancers - 7:05 p.m. Saturday, April 14 @ Tri-City Storm - 7:35 p.m. The Lincoln Stars finish the 2017-18 regular season with a pair of road games against the Omaha Lancers on Friday at Ralston Arena and the Tri-City Storm on Saturday at Viaero Center. The Stars have now won five-straight games against Nebraska opponents since February 17 with three coming against the Lancers and two against the Storm, moving their record to 5-9-0-1 for the Nebraska Cup. All three teams are preparing for the postseason for the first time since 2011-12. The Omaha Lancers swept their three-game road week with a 3-0 win over the Tri-City Storm on Wednesday as well as 3-1 and 2-0 wins over the Des Moines Buccaneers. Lancers forwards Cole Gallant (1g, 2a) and Christian O'Neill (1g, 2a) led the way with three-point weekends, joining four other players with at least two points. Forward Ryan Savage led with two goals on Wednesday night. Goaltender Zach Driscoll saved all 55 shots with two shutouts over the weekend, and Vincent Purpura stopped 19 of 20 shots in Friday's win. The Tri-City Storm saw their losing skid grow to seven games with a pair of losses to the Lincoln Stars and a 3-0 loss to the Omaha Lancers on Wednesday. The Storm scored their pair of goals on Friday night, and forwards Connor McMenamin and Adam Goodsir helped give the Storm a lead before slipping in the contest. Goaltender Jake Barczewski played all three games, going 0-3-0 with a 3.70 goals-against average and a .883 save percentage. Western Conference Outlook: The battle for a first-round bye will finish in the final weekend of the regular season. The Waterloo Black Hawks own a league-high 14-game point streak and can clinch a bye with a win and first place with a win and any loss by the Omaha Lancers, who need to hold their two-point lead for second place to clinch a bye. The Fargo Force have now won three-straight games and will host a first round playoff. The Sioux Falls Stampede dropped both games last weekend but can clinch home ice in the first round with a regulation win. The Lincoln Stars have solidified at least fifth place with three wins, and the Tri-City Storm clinched the six-seed with three losses by the Sioux City Musketeers. STAR BITS... The Stars closed their home schedule with a shutout win, book ending the season with blank sheets at the Ice Box. The Stars opened the season with a 1-0 shutout win over Muskegon at the Ice Box, and the showing marks the first time in the Tier I Era (2002-pres.) that the Stars began and ended their home schedule with shutout wins. The shutout was their fourth of the season, and all four have come at the Ice Box.
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United States Hockey League Stories from April 10, 2018
