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USHL Update - Week 25

Published on March 20, 2013 under United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


AROUND THE LEAGUE

Pushing Towards the Playoffs: The Lincoln Stars are 4-1-0 over their last five games, including a pair of weekend victories where they scored six goals in each contest. They sit in third place in the Western Conference with 69 points, four ahead of the fourth place Waterloo Black Hawks and just four behind second place Fargo Force. Lincoln has been getting contributions from all over the ice. Forward Luke Johnson has tallied 11 points (3g, 8a) over his last five games, including five points (2g, 3a) over a pair of weekend wins. Vinni Lettieri is riding a four-game point streak, amassing 10 points (3g, 7a) over that span. Eric Scheid has nine points (5g, 4a) over the last four games and leads the team, while being tied for eighth in the USHL, with 56 points (23g, 33a). Forward Dominik Shine has recorded eight points (4g, 4a) in his last six games. The Stars rattled off five goals from five different skaters in a span of 12:45 during the second period of Saturday's 6-2 win over Green Bay.

Feeling at Home on the Road: The Sioux Falls Stampede and Team USA's Under-18 squad are currently in the midst of six-game road-winning streaks, which are tied for the second longest road streak of the USHL season. The Herd has been on the road for eight of their last 10 games, compiling a record of 7-1-0 over that span. They lead the League with a 19-8-2 record away from home, their most road wins since racking up 19 during the 2006-07 season. Team USA's Under-18 squad has won 11 of their last 12 overall against USHL competition and are outscoring their opponents 27-12 on their current six-game road win streak. Defenseman Will Butcher has recorded six points (2g, 4a) and a plus-11 rating over his last four games while forward Jack Eichel has produced a six-game point streak where he has amassed nine points (5g, 4a). John Hayden has five goals over his last five games for Team USA. Overall, the Under-18 team is 8-2-1 on the road this season against USHL opponents.

Red Hot Goalies: A pair of USHL netminders have been putting up some good numbers over the last month. Youngstown Phantoms goaltender Sean Romeo has won 10 of his last 12 starts, posting a stellar 1.76 GAA and .942 SV% in those 10 victories. He is second in the USHL with 26 wins which are two shy of equaling the Phantoms season record of 28 set by goaltender Matthew O'Connor last season. Sioux Falls Goaltender Charlie Lindgren has posted a 9-2-0 record over his last 11 starts, including two weekend victories on the road where he compiled a 1.50 GAA and .950 SV%. He stopped 25 shots in the 3-2 win against Sioux City on Saturday to record his 30th win of the season. Lindgren is one victory shy of tying the Stampede season record of 31 set by David Bowen during the 1999-2000 season. The next victory by Lindgren will be the 40th of his USHL career.

Welcome Back: The Youngstown Phantoms return home this weekend after playing five straight on the road. They have won 10 of their last 11 games at home and are currently on a six-game home winning streak. The Phantoms have outscored their opponents by a margin of 23-11 over their last six at Covelli Centre and currently boast a 17-9-0 record on home ice, one victory shy of tying the team record of 18 wins at home which was set last season.

Hats Off: Green Bay Gamblers forward Sheldon Dries netted three goals in Friday's 6-1 victory over Omaha, including scoring the game-winning goal. His third goal was his 20th of the season and it gave him five goals over a span of four contests. The next goal for Dries will be the 40th of his USHL career.

Century Club: Indiana Ice defenseman Matthew Krug played his 100th USHL game on Friday and in addition to helping shutout Cedar Rapids 1-0, he scored the lone goal in the contest. It was the second game-winning goal of his USHL career, his first coming in the 25th game of his USHL career last season.

Climbing the Leader Board: Waterloo Black Hawks forward Vince Hinostroza dished out an assist in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Lincoln Stars, giving him his 121st USHL career point and his 70th career assist. He is now tied with Black Hawks great Joe Pavelski for 11th all-time on Waterloo's scoring list and is the ninth player in team history to tally 70 assists. Despite Hinostroza being out for six weeks due to injury, the NHL Draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks ranks fourth on the team and ninth in the USHL in scoring with 55 points (23g, 32a) and has points in 10 of his last 11 games dating back to January 9th, tallying 20 points (7g, 13a) over that span.

The Kids Are Alright: Playing in just his fourth USHL game on Friday, Shane Gersich scored his first goal for the Omaha Lancers. The 16-year-old was the first overall pick in the 2012 USHL Futures Draft. Forward Cullen Munson was playing in only his second USHL game on Saturday when he scored a goal halfway through the first period for the Sioux City Musketeers.

Neck and Neck: Sioux Falls Stampede forward Dennis Kravchenko and C.J. Franklin have been leading the Herd in scoring for most of the season and both are currently riding seven-game point streaks. Kravchenko has 11 points (3g, 8a) on his current streak, while registering a plus-six on-ice rating, and leads the team with 52 points (18g, 34a). He now has three separate point streaks of six games or more this season. Franklin has nine points (8g, 1a) and a plus-eight on-ice rating during his seven-game streak, with all eight of his goals coming in the last six games. He stands second on the team in points with 51 and ranks fourth in the USHL in goals (30). He also leads the team with a plus-27 on-ice rating.

Family Business: It was a family affair for the Lincoln Stars over the weekend as two sets of cousins were in the lineup on Friday and Saturday. Tyler Nanne was playing his first USHL games, joining cousin Vinni Lettieri. Both are grandsons of legendary coach, GM, and player Lou Nanne. They joined cousins Paul LaDue and Luke Johnson who have been top players for the Stars all season, while Johnson's uncle, Chad Johnson, is in his third season as head coach of the team.

Notes: Chicago Steel goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos stopped 41 shots plus turned away both attempts in the shootout during the 3-2 shootout win against Indiana on Saturday. It was the 10th time this season that he has made 40-or-more saves in a game and he is currently tied for second in the USHL with 1,234 saves for the season...Des Moines Buccaneers goaltender Nick Ellis made 46 saves and then stopped all three in the shootout of Saturday's 3-2 shootout win against Fargo. He has turned away seven of the last eight attempts he has faced in the shootout...Dubuque Fighting Saints forward Peter Quenneville put 11 shots on goal over the weekend, giving him 206 for the year and making him the first player to reach the 200-shot plateau this season...Fighting Saints forward Mike Szmatula tallied his 17th multi-point effort of the season with two goals in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Youngstown Phantoms...Fargo Force forward Dominic Toninato scored his sixth game-winning goal of the season in Tuesday's 4-2 victory over the Lincoln Stars. He is third overall in the USHL in that category...Tri-City Storm forward Michael Vecchione collected his 50th point of the season with an assist in Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Omaha Lancers. He added an assist last night to record the 80th point of his USHL career...Sioux City Musketeers goaltender Kyle Hayton has posted a 7-2-0 record over his last nine games after going 1-6-4 in his previous 11 contests.

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United States Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2013


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