USHL Tri-City Storm

Tri-City Storm in Sole Possession of First Thanks in Part to Kielly and Limoges

Published on February 29, 2016 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


The Tri-City Storm is in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference after a three-point weekend against Madison. The strong weekend included a sell-out crowd that watched Jake Kielly earn his third shutout in a 3-0 win on Friday.

On Saturday, a two-goal comeback in the final two minutes of regulation allowed Tri-City to earn a point in a shootout defeat, driving the Storm one point ahead of Lincoln. Heading into the final 13 regular season games, Tri-City has two games at hand on the Stars and an eight-point edge on Waterloo and Omaha for the final two playoff spots.

STANDINGS

Kielly started both weekend games and has helped Tri-City get at least a point in 15 straight decisions (11-0-3-1) and 20 of his last 21 games (15-1-3-2).

The Storm is on a seven-game point streak, its second best run of the campaign.

With a five-game home stand complete, Tri-City heads for a weekend swing Friday at Omaha and Saturday at Sioux City. Both games begin at 7:05 p.m., with the Viaero Wireless Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. on The Breeze 94.5 F.M. The Storm is next at home March 11 and March 12 against Team USA.

http://bit.ly/Storm_Tickets

Last Week:

Friday, February 26 vs. Madison, W, 3-0

Saturday, February 27 vs. Madison, L, 3-2 (SO)

This Week:

Friday, March 4 at Omaha, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 5 vs. Sioux City, 7:05 p.m.

Need to Know:

A rookie continues to emerge

Alex Limoges has tied a season-best five-game point streak after scoring twice and adding an assist in Tri-City's weekend games.

Centering a line of Dan Labosky and Wade Allison, Limoges has emerged since returning from Injured Reserve on Dec. 18, ranking eighth in the league among rookies with 27 points. Every rookie with more points has played at least 7 more games than Limoges.

Over the last five games, at least one member of the Labosky, Limoges and Allison trio has been on ice for 12 of Tri-City's 18 goals.

During those five, the high school senior has four goals and nine points, behind linemate Wade Allison (11 pts) and Muskegon's Rem Pitlick (11 pts) for best in the league during that span.

The Cornell commit has also factored in on some of Tri-City's most-important tallies. Saturday against Madison, Limoges tipped a scored with 58 seconds left to tie the Capitols, helping the Storm earn a necessary point to move into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. The previous weekend, Feb. 20 against Omaha, the rookie became the second Tri-City player to score four points in a game this season, collecting a career high three assists against the Lancers.

Rookie designation is given to players born after Sept. 15, 1997 that have played fewer than 10 USHL games entering 2015-16.

Copley debuts in NHL

Goaltender Pheonix Copley became the 11th former Tri-City player to play in an NHL game when he appeared for the St. Louis Blues Saturday against Nashville.

Copley made five saves on six shots in relief of Jake Allen. The native of North Pole, AK played for the Storm in 2011-12, accruing a 3.14 goals against average and a .905 save percentage in 25 appearances. He joins former Storm star Jaden Schwartz on the Blues. The two are the only active NHL players that suited up for Tri-City.

The 24-year-old netminder finished out 2011-12 with the Des Moines Buccaneers before heading to Michigan Tech for two years of college hockey from 2012-14, where current Storm Head Coach and former Huskies Assistant Bill Muckalt helped tutor Copley at the NCAA level.

Copley is the second Storm goalie to make it to the NHL, joining Peter Mannino (2003-04), who is now an Assistant Coach with the USHL's Chicago Steel.

Power play drives Storm attack

Tri-City has scored at least one power-play goal in eight of 12 games (13-for-45, 28.9%) driving the unit to the sixth in the league with a 20.0% conversion clip.

In particular, the Storm has seven man-up tallies in the last five games (7-for-23), a 30% rate.

Tri-City's power-play success has often made a difference in the midst of closely-contested games; The Storm scored three man-up tallies in a two-goal win against Omaha on Feb. 20.

Nico Sturm has nine power-play goals, third in the league. Mattias Goransson has 15 power-play assists and 19 power-play points, second in the league and first among defensemen.

Game Recaps:

Game 46 vs. Madison: Kielly stifles Caps, 3-0

Jake Kielly made 30 saves for his third shutout of the season and the Tri-City Storm beat the Madison Capitols, 3-0, in front of a sell-out crowd Friday at the Viaero Center.

Once again, the Storm's line of Wade Allison, Dan Labosky and Alex Limoges found its groove; each player had at least a point and Allison (2a) and Limoges (1g, 1a) had multi-point games.

John Marino finished with two assists and three points over the weekend. The native of North Easton, MA has six assists over the last four games, best in the USHL over that span.

Labosky started the scoring five minutes into the second on the man up, the game-winning goal. The Wisconsin commit Labosky is three points away from matching a career-best 32 points. Carson Meyer scored his team-best 26th of the campaign with two minutes left in the middle frame and Alex Limoges buried Madison with a tally 18 seconds into the third.

Game 47 vs. Madison: Two goals in final two minutes gets Storm a point, Madison wins, 3-2 (SO)

Max Humitz and Alex Limoges scored goals separated by 1:07 in the final two minutes, erasing the Madison Capitols' 2-0 lead before the Caps won in a shootout, 3-2.

The point allowed the Storm to move into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with 58 points.

All four goals were scored in the third period; Madison knocked the first goal six minutes into the final frame and took a 2-0 edge with three minutes left in the final frame.

Storm Goalie Jake Kielly went to the bench after a face-off victory following the Caps' insurance tally. Just 46 seconds after Madison jumped in front by two, Humitz scored his second goal in a Storm uniform. A suddenly revitalized Viaero Center crowd watched Kielly dash to the bench again less than a minute later. With 58 seconds left, Limoges tipped in a slot shot by John Marino to give the Storm an unexpected tie.

In the three-round skills competition, Madison scored three times and the Storm managed two goals.

Schedule:

Tuesday, March 1, 2016:

Practice - 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016:

Practice - 3:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 3, 2016:

Practice - 3:00 p.m.

Friday, March 4, 2016: Game at Omaha

Storm at Lancers - 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 5, 2016: Game at Sioux City

Storm at Musketeers - 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 6, 2016:

Off Day

Monday, March 7, 2016:

TBD

http://bit.ly/Storm_Tickets

Make sure to swing by the Viaero Center on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 for the Storm's games against the U-18 Squad of Team USA. Friday at 7:30 p.m. is Hockey Appreciation Night, presented by Applebee's, plus a Free Kids Friday and a post-game skate.

Saturday, March 12 at 7:05 p.m., bring all the guys out to the game for Entourage Night, presented by Kearney Regional Medical Center and Platte Valley Medical Group. Saturday's game is also a $1 beer night. Pick up a Coca-Cola Family four-pack with four tickets, pops, hot dogs and chips for $44.

Groups of 10+ can get discounted group tickets for as low as $11. For information contact the Storm Box Office at 308-338-8144.

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 29, 2016


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