Storm Face Elimination in Game Two of USHL Western Conference First Round Series Saturday Night at Sioux City
USHL Tri-City Storm

Storm Face Elimination in Game Two of USHL Western Conference First Round Series Saturday Night at Sioux City

Published on April 11, 2026 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The No. 6 Tri-City Storm must win to keep their season alive in game two of a USHL Western Conference First Round series against the No. 3 Sioux City Musketeers on Saturday night at IBP Ice Center. Puckdrop is set for 6:05 pm CT.

Game one: Sioux City's Ashton Schultz scored just over three minutes into overtime, handing the Musketeers a 4-3 win. Tri-City erased a two-goal deficit thanks in-part to a Brecken Smith marker early in the third period, knotting the contest at 3-3. Friday was Tri-City's first overtime playoff game since April 16, 2024 (3-2 victory versus Sioux Falls).

Cam Springer and Bode Laylin also scored for the Storm.

Michal Pradel started the game in net for Tri-City, stopping 10 of 13 shots in 26:03 of action. Owen Nelson entered the game in relief, halting 21 of 22 Sioux City attempts. Jack Fichthorn shut down 29 of 32 Storm shots in goal for Sioux City.

A complete series schedule is below. All games will be broadcast on FloHockey and Storm Radio.

Game One: Friday, April 10 at Sioux City (Sioux City 4, Tri-City 3 - OT)

Game Two: Saturday, April 11 at Sioux City (6:05 pm CT)

Game Three (if necessary): Sunday, April 12 at Sioux City (5:05 pm CT)

The winning team advances to play No. 1 Sioux Falls in a best-of-five USHL Western Conference Semifinal series beginning Friday, April 17 at Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Home playoff tickets: Tickets for potential second round Tri-City home playoff games will be announced at a later date.

A description of the 2026 USHL Clark Cup playoff format can be accessed HERE.

Tri-City (26-29-7, 59 pts, 6th place Western Conf.)

Team Notes:

Making eighth consecutive postseason appearance and 18th in team's 26 years of operation

Finished regular season below .500 mark for first time since 2016-2017

Ended regular season dropping 12 of past 13 games

Compiled the fifth-longest point streak by a USHL team this year (nine games between January 3-31) and tied for the second-longest losing streak (ten games between February 27-March 28)

11-3-7 in one-goal games during regular season, 6-9-0 in two-goal games

Averaged 11.29 penalty minutes per game during regular season, the second-least among USHL teams

Penalty kill (82.8%) ended regular season ranking third in USHL

Eight shorthanded goals during regular season placed third among USHL teams

169 power play attempts this year were third-least among USHL clubs

Player Notes:

Bode Laylin: 38 points during regular season were seventh among USHL defenseman...11 goals were third among USHL blue liners...six power play goals tied for first among league defenseman

Michal Pradel: four shutouts tied for first among USHL goaltenders....911 save percentage ranked fourth...2.75 goals against average tied for eighth

Owen Nelson: logged .933 save percentage over his last eight starts of the regular season (348 saves on 373 shots)

Quinn Beumer: made 87 saves on 93 shots across the first three starts of his USHL career, a .935 save percentage

Carson Pilgrim (18-23-41) finished regular season as team leader in scoring...Bode Laylin (11-27-38) followed

Sioux City (30-27-5, 65 pts, 3rd place Western Conf.)

Making sixth consecutive postseason appearance

Finished regular season with 30 or more wins for third straight year

Dropped five of last eight regular season games

Last weekend: finished regular season with 4-3 road win at Omaha Friday, 6-2 road loss at Des Moines Saturday

Luke Garry (21-40-61) led Musketeers in scoring during regular season...William Tomko (24-36-60) followed

Season series: Tri-City went 4-1-1 against Sioux City across six regular season meetings. The Storm went 2-1-0 against the Musketeers at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

Saturday, September 27 (Viaero Center, Kearney) Tri-City 4, Sioux City 3 (OT)

Saturday, October 18 (Tyson Events Center, Sioux City) Tri-City 4, Sioux City 1

Friday, November 21 (Viaero Center, Kearney) Tri-City 3, Sioux City 2

Wednesday, December 31 (Tyson Events Center, Sioux City) Sioux City 5, Tri-City 1

Friday, January 30 (Viaero Center, Kearney) Tri-City 6, Sioux City 5 (OT)

Sunday, March 29 (Tyson Events Center, Sioux City) Tri-City 4, Sioux City 2

The clubs' last postseason clash was a first round Western Conference series during the 2023 Clark Cup Playoffs. Tri-City swept the best-of-three in two games at Viaero Center. The Storm went on to drop a best-of-three Western Conference Semifinal series at Fargo in two games.

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2026


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