SIOUX FALLS, SD – In an explosive offensive game, the Sioux Falls Stampede beat the Tri-City Storm 7-5 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center on Friday night.
Sioux Falls (5-2-0, 10 pts) earned their fifth win in their first seven regular season games. Tri-City (2-4-2, 6 pts) has dropped three of their last four.
The Storm's five goals in the game were a new season-high.
A combined six goals were recorded in the first period. Tri-City's Cam Briere began the game's scoring 1:51 into the contest. Briere, who was positioned on the left wing of the Sioux Falls blue line, retrieved the puck and walked it to the left wing circle of the Stampede zone. The Omaha commit then ripped a snapshot past Sioux Falls goaltender Carl Axelsson to make it 1-0.
Briere added the second Tri-City goal 6:17 into the first frame. Shaun McEwen fired a shot from the near circle of the Stampede zone that generated a big rebound off the pad of Sioux Falls netminder Carl Axelsson. Briere, on the right post of the Stampede net, grabbed the puck and scored for his second goal of the night.
Sioux Falls' Jake Merens tallied his first goal of the season and Ethan Wyttenbach added his third of the year afterward to make it a 2-2 game in the middle part of the first.
Tri-City retook the lead thanks to a McEwen goal, his first of the season, at the 13:30 mark of the first after McEwen skated the puck to the right wing circle and slipped a shot past Axelsson.
Sioux Falls tied the game at 3-3 with 18:45 gone by in the first period on a Brock James goal. The game remained tied 3-3 at the first intermission.
At the beginning of the second period, the Stampede replaced Axelsson with goaltender Ryan Manzella, who appeared in his second game of the season. Axelsson stopped four of the seven Tri-City shots he faced during his 20 minutes in the Sioux Falls crease.
Each team added a pair of goals in the second. Tri-City began the period's scoring just under five minutes in when Mason Jenson, who was moving quickly down the left wing of the Storm offensive zone, picked up a loose puck that hopped off Briere's stick in the slot. Jenson quickly flashed a shot past Manzella to make it 4-3.
After Sioux Falls' Ben Wilmott tied the game at four a piece, the Storm replaced starting goaltender Adam Dybal with Erick Roest. Dybal, who played a total of 32:48, halted 17 of 21 shots he faced in the contest.
Tri-City scored their final goal of the night during a 2-on-1 play. Dallas Vieau skated with the puck down the left wing into the Storm offensive zone, where he placed a beautiful pass on the stick of Paul Bloomer. Bloomer whistled the puck in the back of the net at the 15:08 mark of the second to make it 5-4. It was his first tally of the season.
Sioux Falls tied the game at 5-5 before the second intermission, when Ben Wilmott found the back of the net for the second time on the night with a tough-angle shot from the right side of the goal line.
The game remained knotted up at five a piece until the 13:14 mark of the third. Sioux Falls' Gennadi Chaly banked in a rebound after Austin Baker drove the net during a 1-on-1 situation and was shut down on his shot attempt by the pad of Roest. Chaly's goal was his second of the season. It was also the Michigan commit's team-high third point of the night.
The Storm pulled Roest with around 1:30 left, but allowed an empty net goal by John McNelis with just over five seconds remaining, making the score 7-5.
Three Tri-City players logged multiple points in the contest, including Briere (2-1-3), Bloomer (1-1-2), and McEwen (1-1-2). After the performance, Briere now leads the team in scoring this season (4-3-7).
Roest stopped 11 of 13 shots in the Tri-City net after playing 25:59 in the game. Manzella had an excellent relief outing in the Sioux Falls crease, stopping 23 of 25 shots in his 40 minutes of action.
Up next: The second game of the weekend series takes place Saturday in Sioux Falls. Puck drop at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center is scheduled for 6:05 pm CT. Fans can watch on FloHockey or listen to the action on Storm Radio.
Friday's box score
