Storm Fall 3-2 in Shootout Saturday at Fargo, Will Face Sioux City in First Round of Clark Cup Playoffs Starting Friday
USHL Tri-City Storm

Storm Fall 3-2 in Shootout Saturday at Fargo, Will Face Sioux City in First Round of Clark Cup Playoffs Starting Friday

Published on April 4, 2026 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


FARGO, N.D. - Despite overcoming a two-goal deficit and receiving a franchise record 55 saves by goaltender Owen Nelson, the Tri-City Storm dropped a 3-2 contest in a shootout to the Fargo Force in the final game of the regular season on Saturday night at Scheels Arena.

Tri-City locked up sixth place in the Western Conference standings after collecting one point on Saturday. The Storm will visit third place Sioux City in a best-of-three Western Conference First Round series beginning Clark Cup Playoff action on Friday night at 7:05 pm.

Fargo (38-29-5, 81 pts) closed the regular season on a three-game winning streak. Tri-City (26-29-7, 59 pts) has dropped 12 of its past 13 games.

Saturday's first goal was not scored until less than five minutes remained in the second period. Fargo's Zac Zimmerman broke the ice. As the Force worked on the power play, Zimmerman finished a backdoor rebound past Nelson on a puck that was shot by Fargo's Kolin Sisson from in-tight.

Fargo doubled its lead with 19:04 gone by in the second. Off a feed from Graham Jones, Cullen McCrate flipped a hard snapshot from the right circle past Nelson's blocker side for his tenth goal of the campaign.

Tri-City cut the Fargo advantage to 2-1 just before the second intermission. Braydon Sisco collected a rebound from a Gairin Michalski shot in front of Fargo goaltender Ajay White, then sent a backhand rip into the net for his first career USHL goal. Saturday was Sisco's third career USHL game.

The Storm evened the contest with a Mason Jenson tally just over three minutes into the third. Off a pass from Sisco, the Ohio State commit fired a shot from the slot past an off-balance White for his 12th goal of the campaign.

The game remained tied through regulation and went to overtime. Each team earned a chunk of power play time in the extra frame, but did not score.

Both clubs traded a single goal through the first three rounds of the shootout. After Ashton Dahms was shut down by White in Tri-City's fourth round attempt, Fargo's Mason West converted a blast beyond Nelson, ending the game.

Nelson shined throughout the entire night. The Hudson, Wisconsin native broke Tri-City's franchise record set by Jacob Johansson, who made 53 saves in a Storm game on October 12, 2023. Nelson's 55 saves Saturday were additionally the most by a USHL goaltender in a single game this year.

White, who stopped 23 of 25 Storm shots earned his 26th win of the year.

Tri-City's Sisco (1-1-2) plus Fargo's Sisson (0-2-2) and Jones (0-2-2) each finished with multiple points.

Up next: Tri-City begins 2026 Clark Cup Playoff action Friday night at Sioux City. Friday will be game one of a best-of-three Western Conference First Round series. The series schedule is below. All games will be played at IBP Ice Center in Sioux City.

Friday, April 10 at Sioux City, 7:05 pm CT

Saturday, April 11 at Sioux City, 6:05 pm CT

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

Ticket information regarding potential second round Storm home playoff games will be announced at a later date.

All Tri-City playoff games will be broadcast on FloHockey and Storm Radio (mixlr).

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 4, 2026


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