Friday's box score
KEARNEY, NE – Nolan Roed's third period natural hat trick and Artemi Nizameyev's overtime winner led the Tri-City Storm to a heart pounding 6-5 win over the Fargo Force on Friday night inside Viaero Center.
Tri-City (9-8-3, 21 pts) won their second overtime game of the season and first since October 5. Fargo (11-5-3, 24 pts) gave up a three-goal lead in the third period en route to the loss.
The Force outshot Tri-City 7-1 in the first and held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Ryan Zaremba scored his sixth goal of the season 45 seconds into the contest to put Fargo on the board. Riley Bassen added his first of the year to make it 2-0 at the 15:27 mark.
Tri-City came out with an energetic start to the second period and earned their first goal 1:15 into the frame. After a Roed breakaway shot that was shut down by the pads of Force goaltender Damian Slavik, Nizameyev followed up to crank a rebound home for his eleventh goal of the season.
Fargo added two more before the second intermission to extend their lead after 40 minutes. Aaron Reierson collected his first of the season after stuffing a rebound from his own shot past Storm goaltender Adam Dybal with just under five minutes left in the second period. Merril Steenari scored less than two minutes later after receiving a cross-crease pass from teammate Finn McClaughlin. McLaughlin retrieved his own dump-in attempt off the end boards in front of the Tri-City cage.
The Storm began their comeback very early in the third. Roed scored his first of the night 35 seconds into the frame after accepting a centering feed from Nizameyev during a three-on-one rush in the Fargo zone. Roed sent a hard wrist shot from between the faceoff circles into the top left corner of the Force net.
Tri-City made it a one-goal game less than three minutes later. During a Fargo power play following a Nizameyev tripping minor, Roed motored down the sheet on a breakaway after generating a turnover at the Force line. The St. Cloud State commit shot the puck five-hole on Slavik to make it a 4-3 game. Roed has tallied all three of Tri-City's shorthanded goals this season.
Roed completed the natural hat trick 7:58 into the third on another breakaway goal following a turnover at the Fargo line. This time, the White Bear Lake, Minnesota native made a forehand-backhand deek to slide the puck around Slavik into the Force net. Roed's hat trick was the first of his career and first by a Storm player this season.
Tri-City grabbed a lead with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. Colton Whitfield, who was positioned at the top of the right circle in the Fargo zone, one-timed a pass from Carmelo Crandell toward the Force cage. The puck was initially contacted by the pads of Slavik, but squeaked under the Slovakia native's legs, slowly making its way inside the net. It was Whitfield's second goal of the season.
Fargo pulled Slavik with approximately two minutes remaining in regulation. During a long Force offensive zone possession with under a minute left, Finn McClaughlin ripped a shot from the center point toward Tri-City's net. The puck hit Dybal's equipment, then ricocheted to the edge of the right faceoff circle. Steenari quickly grabbed and shot the puck through traffic into the Storm cage to tie the game with 41 seconds to go. The goal was Steenari's second of the night and team-leading 12th on the year.
Each team had several good looks in the early minutes of overtime, but could not cash in. With just over a minute remaining in the extra frame, Roed picked off a Fargo pass in the Tri-City zone and began skating up the left wing of the ice. Nizameyev joined him for a 2-on-1 rush. After entering the Force zone, Roed sent a cross-ice pass to Nizameyev, who slowly walked toward Slavik, made a backhand-forehand deek, then sent a wrist shot home to end the contest.
Roed's five points in the game are most by any Storm player during one night this season. Nizameyev also contributed massively with three points after two goals and one assist. It was the Miami commit's seventh multi-point game of the year.
Dybal halted 22 of 27 shots in the Tri-City net for his third win of the campaign.
Up next: Tri-City wraps the series with Fargo on Saturday at Viaero Center. Puckdrop is scheduled for 6:05 pm CT.
On Saturday, the Storm will host Teacher Appreciation Night. All teachers in the Central Nebraska region received an email link to purchase special discounted tickets.
For tickets and additional information, visit stormhockey.com, call the Storm at 308-338-8144, or stop by the Viaero Center box office in-person.
