DES MOINES, Ia. – Des Moines Buccaneers (8-12-1) goaltender Ryan Ruck made 53 saves and kept the Tri-City Storm (5-15-2) off the board until the final minutes, backstopping his team to a 3-2 win at Buccaneer Arena on Friday night.
The Storm got back in the game with two late goals in the final five minutes from forwards Garrett Gamez and Chris Wilkie, but they couldn’t find the equalizer.
The game had a similar feel to Thursday night’s battle between Tri-City and Waterloo, as the Storm fought hard and had the edge in play during the first period, but both teams were held off the scoreboard.
Des Moines took the lead at 8:26 of the second period on forward Roman Uchyn’s first goal of the season.
Through two frames, Tri-City had a 32-17 edge in shots on net but found themselves trailing 1-0.
After an early penalty to Storm defenseman Cutler Martin for checking from behind 31 seconds into the final frame, Des Moines capitalized as forward Michael Marnell one-timed home a pass from Ryan Galt.
The Buccaneers made it 3-0 minutes later on a wrap-around goal by forward Tanner Karty.
It took until 14:55 of the third period for the Storm to get one past Ruck, but they finally put one home when Gamez deflected a Jalen Schulz shot into the back of the net to start a late comeback attempt.
With under a minute to go, Tri-City made it 3-2 as Wilkie took a pass from defenseman Garrett Cecere and notched his sixth goal of the season.
The Storm had a final chance to try and tie the game but fell short on a night when they outshot Des Moines 55-29.
Tri-City netminder Hayden Lavigne turned away 26 shots in the loss, keeping his team in the game.
Forwards Joel L’Esperance and Chase Berger each registered seven shots on net, while forward Christian Horn and defenseman Nolan Gluchowski each had six shots.
The Storm will finish up their road trip on Saturday night in Cedar Rapids against the RoughRiders. The game gets underway at 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City is back at home on Dec. 13 and 14 to face the Youngstown Phantoms in a two-game series.
Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Thomas Aldworth, Nick Hutchison and Kyle Eastman, along with defenseman Tory Dello.…
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
(no scoring)
2nd Period
Des Moines – Roman Uchyn (Tanner Karty, Danny Elser) 8:26
3rd Period
Des Moines – Michael Marnell (power play) (Ryan Galt, Garrett Cockerill) 1:43
Des Moines – Tanner Karty (Marcel Godbout) 4:12
Tri-City – Garrett Gamez (Jalen Schulz, Joel L’Esperance) 14:55
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie (Garrett Cecere) 19:22
PENALTIES
1st Period
Tri-City – Cutler Martin – (Checking From Behind), 2 min, 12:13
Tri-City – Ross Olsson – (Slashing), 2 min, 17:04
Des Moines – Garrett Cockerill – (Interference), 2 min, 17:46
Tri-City – Dan Labosky – (High Sticking), 2 min, 19:44
2nd Period
Des Moines – Ryan Galt – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 15:03
3rd Period
Tri-City – Cutler Martin – (Hooking), 2 min, 0:31
Des Moines – Garrett Cockerill – (Hooking), 2 min, 5:18
Des Moines – Tanner Karty – (Slashing), 2 min, 16:03
Tri-City – Nolan Gluchowski – (Slashing), 2 min, 16:03
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Slashing), 2 min, 19:52
Des Moines – Michael Marnell – (Roughing), 2 min, 19:52
Power Play
Tri-City – 0/3
Des Moines – 1/4
Shots
Tri-City: 15, 17, 23 = Total: 55
Des Moines: 5, 12, 12 = Total: 29
Saves
Tri-City – Hayden Lavigne – 26/29
Des Moines – Ryan Ruck – 53/55