SIOUX CITY, Ia. – The Sioux City Musketeers (13-4-1) came out ahead after a wild game, defeating the Tri-City Storm (9-5-3) 7-5 in a battle of the top two teams in the Western Conference at the Tyson Events Center on Saturday night.
Storm forward Cody Milan scored twice in the first period, while captain Garrett Gamez, defenseman Kevin Kerr and forward Nick Master all found the back of the net later in the game for Tri-City.
Milan opened the scoring 2:06 into the game, taking a perfect pass from Matthew Freytag and wristing a shot into the top left corner of the Sioux City net to give Tri-City a 1-0 lead.
But 1:01 after Milan’s tally, Storm forward Chris Wilkie was called for a checking from behind penalty and received a game ejection. On the ensuing double minor power play for the Musketeers, both Robert Carpenter and Joel Janatuinen scored goals and Sioux City had themselves a 2-1 lead.
Later in the opening frame, Milan struck again on the power play and tied things up at 2-2. Defenseman Tory Dello took a shot from the top of the zone and the White Lake, Mich. native found the rebound in the crease, pushing it past Musketeers’ netminder Collin Olson. Freytag picked up his second assist of the game on the goal.
After a Waltteri Hopponen goal made it 3-2 Sioux City at 3:10 of the second period, Gamez tied the game right back up with his sixth goal of the year 33 seconds later. While on a power play, forward Mason Appleton set the captain up perfectly in front of the net, and Gamez outwaited Olson, beating the netminder to his left.
The Musketeers took control of the game late in the middle frame, scoring three times in the final six minutes. Janatuinen had two of the three tallies, securing a hat trick on the night, while defenseman Avni Berisha scored his first goal of the year. Tri-City was trailing 6-3 as the teams headed to the third period.
The Storm fought to the end, scoring twice to cut the score to 6-5. First Master got his fourth of the season on the power play at 2:50 from Gamez and forward Jake Wahlin.
Then as time was running out on Tri-City, Kevin Kerr scored his second goal of the weekend with just 3:47 left in the game to cut the Musketeer lead to just one.
Tri-City pulled netminder Blake Weyrick in the final minute, but a late penalty to Chase Berger derailed the comeback and Berisha scored an empty net power play goal to finish things off with eight seconds to go.
Weyrick finished with 19 stops in the game for Tri-City, while Olson had 25 saves for Sioux City in the win. The Storm had the edge in shots on goal in the game, 30-26.
Tri-City will be back in action Wednesday with a Thanksgiving Eve contest on the road in Des Moines against the Buccaneers at 7:05 p.m. The Storm will return to the Viaero Event Center on Tuesday, Dec. 9 in a matchup with the Lincoln Stars.
Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Conner Valesano and Wade Allison along with defenseman Jason Krych…
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
Tri-City – Cody Milan (Matthew Freytag) 2:06
Sioux City – Robert Carpenter (power play) (Sam Kurker, Joel Janatuinen) 4:41
Sioux City – Joel Janatuinen (power play) (Robert Carpenter) 6:23
Tri-City – Cody Milan (power play) (Tory Dello, Matthew Freytag) 16:05
2nd Period
Sioux City – Waltteri Hopponen (Alexandre Payusov) 3:10
Tri-City – Garrett Gamez (power play) (Mason Appleton) 3:43
Sioux City – Joel Janatuinen (power play) (Ryan Zuhlsdorf) 14:22
Sioux City – Avni Berisha (Sam Kurker, Joe Snively) 14:59
Sioux City – Joel Janatuinen (unassisted) 19:28
3rd Period
Tri-City – Nick Master (power play) (Garrett Gamez, Jake Wahlin) 2:50
Tri-City – Kevin Kerr (Jake Wahlin, Nolan Aibel) 16:13
Sioux City – Avni Berisha (empty net) (unassisted) 19:52
PENALTIES
1st Period
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Checking From Behind), 4 min, 3:07
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Checking From Behind) (Game Ejection), 10 min, 3:07
Sioux City – Jake Durflinger – (Slashing), 2 min, 15:07
Tri-City – Tory Dello – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 16:56
2nd Period
Sioux City – Jake Durflinger – (Charging), 2 min, 3:17
Tri-City – Cody Milan – (Slashing), 2 min, 5:09
Tri-City – Tory Dello – (High Sticking), 2 min, 12:51
3rd Period
Sioux City – Jacob Wilson – (Checking From Behind), 2 min, 1:51
Sioux City – Jacob Wilson – (Checking From Behind) (Misconduct), 10 min, 1:51
Sioux City – Avni Berisha – (Interference), 2 min, 8:06
Tri-City – Chase Berger – (Checking From Behind), 2 min, 18:29
Power Play
Tri-City – 3/4
Sioux City – 4/6
Shots
Tri-City: 10, 11, 9 = Total: 30
Sioux City: 8, 11, 7 = Total: 26
Saves
Tri-City – Blake Weyrick – 19/25
Sioux City – Collin Olson – 25/30