USHL Update - Week 20

By Brian Werger, USHL

Big Bucs…The Des Moines Buccaneers put a halt to their seven-game winless skid (0-6-1) with a pair of weekend victories. It was the first time they had won consecutive games since December 9th. Gasper Kopitar scored a pair of goals in the third period, including the game-winner, of Friday’s 3-1 win vs. Sioux Falls. He leads the team with 17 goals this season. Cal Decowski scored his 10th goal of the season and converted in the shootout to lead the Bucs to a 4-3 shootout victory over Sioux City. The Bucs had been 0-4 in games decided in the shootout this season. Zach Saar scored his first goal in a Des Moines uniform. Pheonix Copley was in net for both weekend contests and made a combined 51 saves to record his first two victories as a member of the Bucs. The Bucs penalty kill has successfully turned away 15 of the last 16 opponent power plays.

Shout Out for Shutouts…Dubuque Fighting Saints goaltender Matt Morris collected a pair of shutouts in a span of three days. He stopped all 25 shots he faced in Wednesday’s 2-0 win against Des Moines and then had a 21-save effort in the 3-0 victory over Cedar Rapids on Saturday. He has three shutouts this season and seven for his USHL career. Lincoln Stars goaltender Jackson Teichroeb made 27 saves to record his second shutout of the season in Saturday’s 5-0 win against Sioux Falls. It was his first win since December 28th. Michael Rotolo also got into the shutout act as he made 18 saves for the Green Bay Gamblers in the 1-0 win over Chicago on Saturday, his first career USHL shutout.

Welcome to the Show…Forward Andrew Poturalski made a big impression during his first USHL game. The recently turned 18-year-old scored a goal for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on his first shot just 6:15 into the first period on Friday. In the second period, his second shot also resulted in a goal. Poturalski added an assist for a three-point night (2g, 1a) to lead the Riders to a 6-3 win over rival Dubuque.

A Little Extra…The Sioux City Musketeers played some bonus hockey during both weekend contests to wrap up their six-game homestand. Both games went past regulation, making it three in a row that they have needed more than 60 minutes to decide a contest. Defenseman Alexander Kuqali netted the winner in overtime of Friday’s 4-3 win against Waterloo. He now has three goals in 11 games as a member of the Musketeers, matching his goal total in 112 previous USHL games with Indiana. Kyle Criscuolo forced overtime on Saturday when he scored to tie the game with just 1:46 remaining in the third period, but the Musketeers would fall in the shootout giving them a 4-1-1 record over the homestand.

Big Papa…Waterloo Black Hawks forward Ryan Papa is making a habit of scoring the important goals. He netted the game-winner in Saturday’s 4-2 victory against Omaha. He has scored the game-winner in each of the Hawks last two victories and three of his last five goals have been the deciding tally. During his USHL career, five of his 13 goals have been game-winners.

Holy Goalie…USHL goaltenders stole the spotlight during the week. Green Bay Gamblers goaltender Ryan McKay not only earned the eighth shutout of his USHL career in Tuesday’s 3-0 win against Waterloo, but it was also the 54th win of his USHL career which broke the Gamblers record of 53 held by Jure Penko (1999-2001). McKay is now 55-20-7 over 83 regular season games during his time in the USHL. Indiana Ice goaltender Jon Gillies recorded his third shutout of the season in Friday’s 2-0 win against Chicago which was also his 36th victory as a member of the Ice, breaking the record of 35 he had shared with Brett Bennett (2008-09). Sioux City Musketeers netminder Matt Skoff made 36 saves on Friday during the 4-3 overtime win against Waterloo for his 60th career victory in the USHL. It was the 13th consecutive start for Skoff.

Multi-Home Winners…The Indiana Ice earned a pair of home victories during the weekend to improve to 9-0-1 over their last 10 games as the home team. In a unique twist, the last three “home” wins have been at three different rinks. On Friday, the team hosted their annual “Pack the House” night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis in front of 11,949 fans as they earned a 2-0 win vs. Chicago. The Ice then went back to their regular digs, the Pepsi Coliseum, on Saturday and gained a 6-5 overtime victory against Muskegon as Sean Kuraly netted the winner 1:20 into the extra session. The previous Ice home win actually came in another city as building commitments during the Super Bowl in Indianapolis forced the Ice to move their game to Muskegon on January 28th, but the Ice remained as the home team and gained a 5-3 victory. The Ice are tied for second in the USHL with 14 victories as the home team this season.

Powerful Stuff…It is always a spirited contest when the Omaha Lancers and Lincoln Stars hit the ice together, and both clubs had plenty of opportunities on special teams during their matchup on Friday in Omaha. The teams flexed their muscles on the power play, combining to go 6-of-15 on the man-advantage. The Lancers, who boast the League’s second best power play at home, tallied three goals on the power play, including a pair by defenseman Kenney Morrison. The Stars currently have the second best power play on the road and showed why as they also netted three goals on special teams.

New Records in Youngstown…The Youngstown Phantoms earned three of a possible four points in the standings during their two-game weekend as they improved their record to 3-0-1 over the last four contests. On Friday, Austin Cangelosi scored a pair of goals in the 5-2 win at Muskegon. It extended his point streak to 10 games and goal streak to six straight contests. The victory for the Phantoms was their 11th on the road this season and 24th win overall, establishing new team records in both categories. Dylan Margonari scored a pair of goals on Sunday during the 4-3 shootout loss to Muskegon. It was his third straight multi-point game after he scored the game-winner and dished out an assist on Friday. Mike Ambrosia scored a goal on Sunday to extend his point streak to 11 games, the third longest point streak in the USHL this season. His assist streak was halted at 10 games which was the longest in the League this season. Ambrosia dished out 15 assists during that streak. The forward also set a new team record for points in a season as his 47 points (12g, 35) broke the previous record of 45 set by Jiri Sekac last year.

Heating Up the Ice Box…The Lincoln Stars have made it tough on opponents during their last two home games as they have not allowed a goal at the Ice Box during the last 120 minutes of game action. The offense has been equally as impressive as their defense during that stretch as the Stars have accounted for 12 goals over those two games. Kevin Roy continues his assault on the boxscores with three goals over two games, giving him seven goals during his current five-game goal streak. He has scored 13 goals over his last 11 games and leads the USHL with 34 goals. Jared Hanson scored two goals in Friday’s shootout loss to Omaha, his sixth multi-goal game of the season and second in a span of three games. Defenseman Paul LaDue scored two goals in the first period, including a shorthanded tally, in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Sioux Falls.

Notes…Andrew Dorantes scored two goals, including the game-winner, as the Tri-City Storm earned a 4-3 win over Fargo on Saturday. Dorantes had tallied two goals total in his previous 73 USHL games…Stanislav Dzakhov has scored four goals over his last three games. He netted two goals, including the game-winner in Friday’s 3-1 victory over Tri-City. It was his second straight game scoring the deciding goal…Anthony Hamburg scored the lone goal in a shootout that lasted six rounds to give the Omaha Lancers a 5-4 shootout victory over Lincoln on Friday. It was the third straight game for the Lancers that had gone past regulation…Joseph Cox scored in the fifth round of the shootout on Sunday as the Muskegon Lumberjacks claimed a 4-3 shootout win at Youngstown to snap an eight-game winless stretch on the road (0-5-3). It was the first road victory for the Jacks since November 12th.