BENSENVILLE, Ill. – Chicago Steel (22-19-3) goaltender Chris Nell kept the Tri-City Storm (17-26-2) at bay for most of the afternoon, making 42 saves and backstopping his team to a 4-2 win on Sunday at The Edge Ice Arena.
Tri-City got goals from forwards Chase Berger and Garrett Gamez in defeat, and goaltender Jacob Johansson made 23 saves in the final 45 minutes after replacing starter Hayden Lavigne.
The Steel took control of the game in the opening period, scoring three goals in the first 14 minutes of the game.
Forward Mason Bergh kicked off the scoring with a tally 7:20 into the contest to make it 1-0, before defenseman Alec Vanko and forward Fredrik Olofsson added power play goals 50 seconds apart.
The consecutive man-advantage tallies was enough for Storm head coach Jim Hulton to make a change in net, removing Lavigne in favor of Johansson.
Despite outshooting the Steel 14-11 in the first frame, Tri-City headed to the intermission with a three goal deficit.
Tri-City got on the board halfway through the middle period when Berger found a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced in alone on a breakaway. The St. Louis native then flipped a wrist shot over Nell’s glove and made it 3-1 at the10:19 mark of the second.
The Storm continued to control the play in the middle period, but a quick Steel breakout resulted in a goal for the team’s leading scorer John Ernsting and Chicago regained a three-goal lead at 4-1.
Once again, Tri-City outshot the Steel in the third period, but couldn’t find the twine until the final minutes when Gamez cashed in on a loose rebound in front of the Chicago net. Assists on the goal were awarded to forwards Conner Valesano and Dan Labosky.
The final shot tally had the Storm ahead 44-32, but they were behind on the scoreboard, dropping a fifth consecutive game. The team’s current five-game losing stretch comes on the heels of their longest winning streak of the season, which also stands at five games.
Tri-City will now look forward to a home-and-home series with the Lincoln Stars this weekend. Friday’s game is in Lincoln at the IceBox and starts at 7:05 p.m. The two teams will then head to Kearney on Saturday night for another7:05 opening face-off.
Saturday’s game will see the Storm host their annual ‘Pack It In Purple’ promotion, where the team will don specialty jerseys to be auctioned off after the game with proceeds benefitting the United Way.
Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Joey DiBenedetto, Nick Hutchison and Nolan Aibel, along with defensemen Cutler Martin, Sean Lang and Tory Dello…
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
Chicago – Mason Bergh (Robbie Payne) 7:20
Chicago – Alec Vanko (power play) (Brian LeBlanc) 12:29
Chicago – Fredrik Olofsson (power play) (John Ernsting, Robbie Payne) 13:19
2nd Period
Tri-City – Chase Berger (unassisted) 10:19
Chicago – John Ernsting (Jake Bunz) 14:47
3rd Period
Tri-City – Garrett Gamez (Conner Valesano, Dan Labosky) 18:28
PENALTIES
1st Period
Tri-City – Dan Labosky – (Kneeing), 2 min, 12:02
Tri-City – Michael Joyaux – (Checking From Behind), 2 min, 12:53
Chicago – Victor Bjorkung – (Delay of Game), 2 min, 16:05
Chicago – Victor Bjorkung – (Roughing), 2 min, 16:05
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Delay of Game), 2 min, 16:05
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Roughing), 2 min, 16:05
Chicago – Brady Jones – (Hooking), 2 min, 18:36
2nd Period
Chicago – Robbie Payne – (Roughing), 2 min, 11:18
Chicago – Alec Vanko – (Delay of Game), 2 min, 12:13
Tri-City – Patrick Curry – (Delay of Game), 2 min, 12:13
3rd Period
Tri-City – Fredric Larsson – (High Sticking), 2 min, 1:25
Chicago – Brendon Kearney – (Interference), 2 min, 3:53
Power Play
Tri-City –0/3
Chicago – 2/3
Shots
Tri-City: 14, 16, 14 = Total: 44
Chicago: 11, 11, 10 = Total: 32
Saves
Tri-City – Hayden Lavigne – 5/8
Chicago – Chris Nell – 42/44