ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Hayden Lavigne made 36 saves and Joel L’Esperance scored twice as the Tri-City Storm (5-10-2) earned their first win under new head coach Jim Hulton, defeating Team USA (13-6-0) by a final score of 5-2 at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube on Saturday night.

Storm forwards Christian Horn and Thomas Aldworth also scored goals for Tri-City in the win, and Chris Wilkie added an empty netter against his former team to seal the victory in the closing minutes.

Team USA got out to an early lead in the opening period, scoring the first goal of the night just 56 seconds in. Christian Fischer took a pass from Luke Kunin and beat Lavigne to make it 1-0 in the first minute of the game.

The NTDP outshot the Storm 14-8 in the first frame and had the lead until L’Esperance scored his first tally of the night. The goal tied the game up at 1-1 at 17:54 of the period and was his sixth of the season.

Tri-City took control of the game in the middle frame, getting goals from both L’Esperance and Horn to take a 3-1 lead. Defensemen Kevin Kerr and Garrett Cecere and forward Kyle Eastman all picked up assists in the second.

In the final period, the Storm extended their lead to 4-1 on Thomas Aldworth’s third goal of the season.

USA got a late tally from defenseman Charles McAvoy to cut the lead to 4-2 in the last five minutes, but Wilkie’s empty net goal solidified the 5-2 win.

The teams won’t have much time to rest as they will meet once more tomorrow for a 3:30 p.m. ESTpuck drop.

The Storm will return home on Nov. 29-30 for a weekend series with the Omaha Lancers at the Viaero Event Center.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Ross Olsson and Ryan McMurphy, along with defensemen Sean Lang.…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

Team USA – Christian Fischer (Nick Boka) 0:56
Tri-City – Joel L’Esperance (Nolan Gluchowski) 17:54

2nd Period

Tri-City – Joel L’Esperance (Kevin Kerr, Garrett Cecere) 9:23

Tri-City – Christian Horn (Kyle Eastman) 17:31

3rd Period

Tri-City – Thomas Aldworth (Chase Berger) 4:49
Team USA – Charles McAvoy (Zach Werenski) 15:05
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie (empty net) (Daniel Labosky) 19:12

PENALTIES

1st Period

Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 19:10

2nd Period

Team USA – Luke Kunin – (High Sticking), 2 min, 1:14
Tri-City – Daniel Labosky – (Tripping), 2 min, 6:52
Team USA – Jeremy Bracco – (Hooking), 2 min, 7:35
Tri-City – Drew Mayer – (Elbowing) 9:45
Tri-City – Cutler Martin – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 13:52

3rd Period

Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Tripping), 2 min, 11:55

Power Play

Tri-City – 1/2

Team USA – 0/5

Shots

Tri-City: 8, 6, 8 = Total: 22

Team USA: 14, 10, 14 = Total: 38

Saves

Tri-City – Hayden Lavigne – 36/38

Team USA – Michael Lackey – 17/21