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USHL Update - Week 26

Published on March 27, 2012 under United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


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Up For Grabs ...The playoff picture is taking shape as only three spots remain for the postseason. Team USA needs a single point to lock in the final available playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Four teams remain alive for the last two spots in the Western Conference playoff bracket, including Sioux City (49 points), Tri-City (48 points), and Des Moines (44) who are all within just five points of each other in the standings.

Cup Clinching ...The Green Bay Gamblers clinched their third Anderson Cup title in the past four years. Although their eight-game road streak game to an end on Saturday, they still clinched the regular season title by earning a point in the 4-3 shootout loss to Muskegon. Green Bay scored four goals in the third period on Friday to earn a 6-3 victory at Youngstown. C.J. Eick scored a pair of goals in the victory and Nolan LaPorte added the 40th goal of his career. Alex Broadhurst scored a goal for the fourth straight game when he converted a penalty shot attempt. It was the 24th road win of the season for the Gamblers which equals the USHL record for road victories set by the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders during the 2004-05 season. Green Bay has a chance to establish a new record when they play their final two road games during the last weekend of the regular season.

Riding to Postseason ...The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders earned three points in the standings over the weekend which secured them a spot in the Clark Cup Playoffs for the 12th consecutive season, the second longest streak for postseason berths in the USHL next to the Omaha Lancers who will appear in their 23rd straight playoffs this spring. Goaltender Jake Hildebrand stopped all 25 shots he faced against rival Waterloo on Saturday as the RoughRiders earned a 6-0 victory. It was the second shutout of the season Hildebrand. Ryan McGrath and Austin Ortega each scored two goals in the contest while John Gilmour scored the game-winner, his fourth game-winning goal of the season which is tied for the most among USHL defensemen.

Playoff Hawks ...The Waterloo Black Hawks earned their fourth straight home win on Friday when the posted a 7-0 win over Sioux Falls. The victory also secured them a spot in the postseason for the sixth consecutive year. Goaltender Stephon Williams turned away 23 shots to record the third shutout of his USHL career while Taylor Cammarata had a USHL career high five points (2g, 3a). The 16-year-old Cammarata has 59 points (25g, 34a) in 53 games and needs one more point to become the youngest player in USHL Tier 1 history to reach the 60-point mark.

Four For Force ...The Fargo Force have allowed just four goals total over their last four games and much of that has been due to the work of goaltender Zane Gothberg. He stopped all 25 shots he faced in Friday's 2-0 win over Des Moines, his League-leading sixth shutout of the season and second consecutive game without allowing a goal. The victory also secured a playoff spot for the Force, earning them a spot in the postseason in each of their four seasons in the USHL. At point over a four-game span, Gothberg didn't allow a goal for 135:33 minutes of game action. Defenseman Willie Corrin recorded his first USHL career game-winning goal on Friday while Colton Hargrove netted the game-winner in Saturday's 4-2 victory over Des Moines. Three of the last four goals for Hargrove have been game-winners as he now has six for the season.

Scoring Machine ...Lincoln Stars forward Kevin Roy has continued his torrid scoring pace as he tallied a goal in both weekend contests for the Stars to extend his goal streak to seven games. It is the longest goal streak in the USHL since Matt White (Omaha Lancers) and Anders Lee (Green Bay Gamblers) both had eight-game goal streaks during the 2009-10 season. Roy's power play goal in the third period of Saturday's 6-3 loss to Sioux City was his 47th of the season, tying the Lincoln Stars record that was set by Brandon Bochenski during the 2000-01 season. Roy has five straight multi-point games and 90 points (47g, 43a) which are two points shy of tying the USHL Tier 1 record for points in a season which was set by Blake Coleman of the Indiana Ice last season. The last USHL player to reach the 100-point mark was Peter Fregoe who recorded 103 points (46g, 57a) for the Des Moines Buccaneers during the 1998-99 season. The 50-goal mark has not been reached since Mark Mowers (Dubuque Fighting Saints) and Jason Blake (Waterloo Black Hawks) scored 51 and 50, respectively, during the 1993-94 season.

Goal Crazy ...Indiana Ice forward Daniil Tarasov scored five goals over three games during the weekend to surpass the 40-goal mark. He has netted 10 goals over his last seven games and now has 41 for the season. Tarasov broke the team record of 37 goals which he established last season. His 78 goals over the past two seasons are the most by a USHL player over a two-year stretch since Peter Sejna scored 81 goals for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the 1998-2000 seasons. The second goal for Tarasov on Saturday was his eighth game-winner of the season which is the most in the USHL and ties his League-leading total from a season ago. With Tarasov and Kevin Roy reaching the 40-goal mark this season, it is the first time that two USHL players have scored 40 goals in a season since the 2001-02 season when Thomas Vanek (46) and Eric Przepiorka (43) each did so for the Sioux Falls Stampede.

Hats Off for the Captain ...Dubuque Fighting Saints forward Zemgus Girgensons scored a goal in each period on Saturday to lead his team to a 4-1 victory over Tri-City and record his first USHL career hat trick. His second goal was the game-winner, his sixth of the season, and his empty net goal in the closing moments was the 40th of his USHL career. The Dubuque captain, a top prospect for the 2012 NHL Draft, has collected 93 points (40g, 53a) in 94 games in the League. Saturday's win for the Saints wrapped up their four-game road stretch with a 2-2-0 record. The team has won 17 games at home this season and now has five remaining games in Dubuque to break their mark of 18 home wins they set a season ago.

Short Stuff ...The Sioux City Musketeers scored three goals in the first period of Saturday's 6-3 win against Lincoln to extend their road winning streak to three games. Two of those first-period goals were shorthanded, one each by Kyle Criscuolo and Maxim Gaudreault, which equaled a USHL record for shorthanded goals in a period. The Omaha Lancers also scored two shorthanded goals in a period when they tallied two empty net shorthanded goals - Tanner Lane and Nolan Zajac - in the final minutes of the 7-3 victory against Sioux Falls on Wednesday.

USHL Alumni Heat Up Frozen Four ...It is down to four teams in the NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament and among the rosters are 50 USHL alumni, making up 47% of the players competing for the national title. The University of Minnesota leads the Frozen Four participants with 21 former USHL players on the roster, followed by Ferris State University (13), Boston College (11), and Union College (5).

Notes ...Goaltender Matthew O'Connor made 50 saves for the Youngstown Phantoms in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Indiana. It was the most saves by a USHL goalie this season...The Tri-City Storm earned their third straight home victory on Friday when they defeated Dubuque 5-1. Nick Lappin scored four goals over the three-game streak and Adam Wilcox posted a 1.00 GAA and .971 SV% during that streak...Sioux Falls Stampede forward Kyle Rankin scored the lone goal of the shootout in Sunday's 3-2 victory over Cedar Rapids. The Stampede had lost each of their last four shootouts. Goaltender Jay Williams stopped all four attempts he faced in the shootout to record the 20th victory of his USHL career...Defenseman Rasmus Bengtsson scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Muskegon Lumberjacks defeated Green Bay 4-3 on Saturday. It was the first shootout goal of his USHL career as the Lumberjacks earned their first win in six attempts (1-4-1) vs. the League's top team this season. Ryan Lomberg extended his goal streak to three games with his 21st tally of the season in regulation.

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United States Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2012


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