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USHL Update - Week Nine

November 20, 2013 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


AROUND THE LEAGUE

That's a Wrap ...The Indiana Ice wrapped up a seven-game homestand with a 5-1-1 record following a weekend sweep of the Sioux City Musketeers. After falling behind 3-0 on Friday, their game was suspended in the third period due to unrepairable broken rink glass. When the game resumed the next day, the Ice put together a four-goal period to complete a comeback victory. The final three goals were scored in a span of 2:24 late in the period. Scott Conway scored two goals, his second multi-goal effort in a stretch of four games, before Denis Smirnov tied the contest with just 48 seconds remaining in the period as the Ice pulled the goaltender in favor of the extra attacker. Only 28 seconds later, Tyler Andrew netted a goal to put the finishing touches on a 4-3 victory. The Ice again got some late heroics on Saturday evening as Brian Pinho and Patrick Newell scored in the back half of the third period to lead another 4-3 win.

Trifecta for Riders ...The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders collected three home victories during the week to extend their win streak on home ice to six games. Things started on Tuesday with the resumption of a suspended game from a month earlier against the Dubuque Fighting Saints. The Riders held a 2-0 lead coming into the resumed contest, but Dubuque would tie it to force extra hockey. In the shootout, Carlos Fornaris was the lone player to convert his attempt while Danny Tirone stopped all three Dubuque shooters to go along with his 40 saves. Cedar Rapids again went to the shootout on Friday after Corey Petrash and Ivan Provorov scored just 46 seconds apart in the third period to tie the game against the Fargo Force. Charlie Curti eventually won it in the shootout for the Riders when he converted in the eighth round as goaltender Chris Birdsall stopped 7-of-8 Fargo attempts. Cedar Rapids then defeated Dubuque for the second time during the week with a 4-1 victory on Saturday. Defenseman Clark Kuster netted the game-winner, his second goal and second game-winner of the season.

Hawks at Home ...The Waterloo Black Hawks extended their home winning-streak to six games when they earned a 3-2 victory against the Omaha Lancers on Saturday. John Wiitala netted his first goal of the season for the Hawks, which proved to be the game-winner, and goaltender Cal Petersen made 28 saves to extend his personal win streak to seven games. Waterloo has won four of their last five games overall, including a marathon 4-3 shootout victory against the Sioux Falls Stampede on Friday. The extra session went 12 rounds before defenseman Hayden Shaw converted the deciding tally and Petersen stopped 10-of-12 Sioux Falls attempts to earn the win.

Powerful Stuff ...In their matchup on Friday, the Youngstown Phantoms and Muskegon Lumberjacks combined for five power play goals. After the first three goals of the game were scored at even strength, the teams closed out the night with five straight power play tallies. The first special teams goal came from Blake Christensen who was making his debut for Muskegon after being acquired earlier in the week from Youngstown. The next two power play tallies came off the stick of Phantoms forward Maxim Letunov, completing his first USHL hat trick after he scored earlier in the contest. Cooper Marody netted the second power play goal for Muskegon and Kyle Connor finished the night with a late empty net power play goal for Youngstown, his third goal in a span of four games.

First Timers ...When the Chicago Steel earned a 5-1 victory over the Lincoln Stars on Thursday, they did so with five different skaters scoring goals, including three players who recorded their first goal in the USHL. Defenseman Connor McDonald and Nathan Kwiecinski plus forward Brady Jones netted the first three goals of the game for the Steel, the first tally in the League for each player.

No Place Like Home ...Forwards Andrew Gaus and Jason Ford scored in the third period on Friday to give the Dubuque Fighting Saints a 6-4 win over the Tri-City Storm. It kept the Saints unbeaten on home ice this season (7-0-0), the only USHL team with a perfect home record. The last regulation loss on home ice for the Saints was March 14th, 2013, a 4-3 loss to the Youngstown Phantoms. Since their return to the USHL in 2010, the Saints have compiled a 71-17-11 record in Dubuque. Only the Green Bay Gamblers have more home wins (72) over that same span.

Six Pack of Shutouts ...Omaha Lancers goaltender Cole Bruns stopped all 29 shots he faced on Friday in the 3-0 win over the Chicago Steel. It was his sixth shutout in 13 starts this season and the 29 saves are the most he has made in any of those shutout victories. The six shutouts are the most in a season by a Lancers goaltender since Jeff Lerg recorded six during the 2004-05 season.

49 in 49 ...Des Moines Buccaneers goaltender Billy Christopoulos made a USHL career high 49 saves in Friday's 5-1 win against the Lincoln Stars. It was the 49th game he has appeared in during his time with Des Moines and it was the fifth time over the past two seasons that he has made at least 40 saves in a game for the Bucs.

Boxscore Fillers ...A trio of Omaha Lancers forwards are riding lengthy point streaks, including USHL leading scorer Jake Randolph who has points in 11 consecutive games (6g, 16a), the longest streak in the League this season. Gage Hough and Tyler Vesel have each recorded points in seven straight contests. Over the last seven games, the trio has combined for 38 points (12g, 26a). Not only are Randolph (34 points), Hough (26), and Vesel (25) the top three scorers in the USHL, they are also currently tied for the League lead with each posting a plus-20 rating.

Just in Time ...The Muskegon Lumberjacks got some late heroics to secure a win over the Youngstown Phantoms on Saturday. Forward Matt Mendelson broke a 3-3 tie as he scored the game-winner with just 15 seconds remaining in the third period. It was his second goal of the game and improved the Jacks' record to 3-0-1 over their last four home contests.

I Remember You ...Saturday saw a goaltending matchup of former teammates when the Green Bay Gamblers visited Team USA. Jared Rutledge of Green Bay and Collin Olson of Team USA were a goaltending tandem for two seasons with Team USA from 2010-12 and combined for 32 victories in USHL competition. Olson, who was playing his first USHL game of the season, got the best of their first head-to-head matchup as he stopped all 20 shots he faced in the 4-0 win to record the fifth shutout of his USHL career.

It's Sonny in Ann Arbor ...Team USA forward Sonny Milano recorded six points (3g, 3a) during a two-game sweep of the Green Bay Gamblers, including his first two-goal game in the USHL during Saturday's 4-0 win. He has produced multi-point efforts in four of his last five games and is tied for the team lead with 17 points (5g, 12a) in nine USHL games played this season.

Snapping Out of It ...Goaltender Michael Bitzer made a season high 39 saves, one shy of equaling his USHL career high, to lead the Lincoln Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers on Saturday. It was the 25th USHL career win for Bitzer as he helped the Stars snap a seven-game losing streak (0-7-0). It was the longest winless streak for Lincoln since the 2009-10 season when they dropped nine consecutive games (0-6-3).

Magical Minute ...Two USHL alumni had moments on Saturday night they will remember for a lifetime, and those memories were created in the same game as the Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Phoenix Coyotes in NHL action. Defenseman Connor Murphy (Team USA, 2009-11) was making his NHL debut for Phoenix and scored his first goal late in the second period. Only 50 seconds later, J.T. Brown (Waterloo Black Hawks, 2008-10) scored his first NHL goal for the Lightning while playing his eighth game in the NHL. Assisting on Brown's goal was another pair of USHL alumni - Teddy Purcell (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, 2004-06) and Andrej Sustr (Youngstown Phantoms, 2009-10). Murphy would get the best of the night as his goal proved to be the game-winner, helping him earn second star of the game honors.

Noteworthy ...Des Moines Buccaneers forward Willem Nong-Lambert scored the game-winner in Friday's 5-1 victory against Lincoln, which was the 20th goal of his USHL career...Defenseman Teemu Kivihalme scored his first USHL goal for the Fargo Force in the team's 3-2 shootout loss to Cedar Rapids on Friday. The 18-year-old was a 2013 NHL Draft pick of the Nashville Predators... Green Bay Gamblers forward Nick Schmaltz had a USHL career high four-point game (1g, 3a) in Friday's 8-5 loss to Team USA. His goal was the 25th of his career in the League...Matt Iacopelli netted a goal in both weekend contests for the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He has scored his 12 goals this season over the last 14 games...Jake Montgomery has scored three goals over his last five games for the Sioux City Musketeers, including the 20th of his USHL career in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Indiana...Dennis Kravchenko scored a goal in both weekend games for the Sioux Falls Stampede and has now scored three of his four goals this season over the past four contests. He has 34 goals during his USHL career.

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