KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm (15-21-2) won in comeback fashion Saturday night, defeating the Sioux Falls Stampede (21-12-4) 4-3 at the Viaero Event Center. With the victory, the Storm finished the season series against the Stampede, winning five of the seven games against their Western Conference foe.
Tri-City has now won three straight games, defeating Lincoln on Tuesday night before the weekend sweep of Sioux Falls.
Storm forward Patrick Curry began the game with his second goal of the season, taking advantage of a power play opportunity. After one period, the Storm had a 1-0 lead.
Sioux Falls answered back 1:56 into the second period on a steal by Ryan Schwalbe. Schwalbe rocketed a one timer past Storm goaltender Jacob Johansson to tie things up at 1-1.
Later in the second, Logan O’ Connor squeezed the puck into the net to give the Stampede a 2-1 lead.
Sioux Falls extended their lead to 3-1 minutes into the third period on a power play goal by Tony Calderone.
After four straight penalties committed by the Stampede, the Storm found themselves on a five-on-three two-man advantage.
Tri-City began the rally when Omaha, Neb. native Chris Wilkie scored his 12th goal of the season to extend his scoring streak to eight games and bring his team within one goal, 3-2.
The Storm found themselves back on the power play and tied the game 3-3 on a Ryan McMurphy power play goal with assists from Tory Dello and Garrett Gamez.
With momentum on the Storm side, Christian Horn pushed the puck past Art Brey for his 12th goal on the season and the Storm had a 4-3 lead. Tri-City never looked back and fought on for the final nine minutes for their third straight win.
Johansson finished the evening with 29 saves, while Brey finished with 20.
Tri-City will be back in action next week as they host Des Moines for a weekend series at the Viaero Event center. Friday night’s game begins at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday’s contest gets underway at 7:05.
Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Nolan Aibel and Nick Hutchison, along with defensemen Cutler Martin and Kevin Kerr. Forward Drew Mayer was also scratched, serving a suspension.…
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
Tri-City – Patrick Curry (power play) (Chase Berger, Garett Gamez) 8:41
2nd Period
Sioux Falls – Ryan Schwalbe (unassisted) 1:56
Sioux Falls – Logan O’Connor (Jack Stander, Jason Stephanik) 10:27
3rd Period
Sioux Falls – Tony Calderone (power play) (Keith Burchett, Chad Duchesne) 1:48
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie (power play) (Conner Valesano, Dan Labosky) 4:29
Tri-City – Ryan McMurphy (power play) (Tory Dello, Garrett Gamez) 8:18
Tri-City – Christian Horn (Dan Labosky, Jalen Schulz) 11:45
PENALTIES
1st Period
Tri-City – Austin Poganski – (Tripping), 2 min, 2:15
Sioux Falls – Tony Calderone – (Holding), 2 min, 7:16
Tri-City – Patrick Curry – (Charging), 2 min, 10:49
Sioux Falls – Kristoffer Brun – (Interference), 2 min, 15:24
Sioux Falls – Ed McGovern – (Holding), 2 min, 18:46
2nd Period
Sioux Falls – Jack Stander – (Interference), 2 min, 3:52
Tri-City – Austin Poganski – (High Sticking) (Double Minor), 4 min, 4:26
Sioux Falls – Ed McGovern – (Checking from Behind), 2 min, 12:00
Sioux Falls – Garrett Cecere – (Interference), 2 min, 16:44
3rd Period
Tri-City – Sean Lang – (Holding), 2 min, 0:52
Sioux Falls – Eduard Simun – (Delay of Game), 2 min, 3:12
Sioux Falls – Ed McGovern – (Misconduct) (Abuse of Officials), 10 min, 3:12
Sioux Falls – Chad Duchesne – (Delay of Game), 2 min, 3:48
Sioux Falls – R.J. Majkozak – (Misconduct) (Abuse of Officials), 10 min, 3:48
Sioux Falls – Art Brey – (Roughing), 2 min, 7:04
Sioux Falls – Tony Calderone – (Holding), 2 min, 9:50
Tri-City – Tory Dello – (Holding), 2 min, 10:37
Power Play
Tri-City – 3/10
Sioux Falls –1/6
Shots
Tri-City: 7, 9, 8 = Total: 32
Sioux Falls: 14, 9, 9 = Total: 24
Saves
Tri-City – Jacob Johansson – 29/32
Sioux Falls – Arthur Brey – 20/24