RALSTON, NE – After trailing by two goals and changing goaltenders less than 90 seconds into the first period, the Tri-City Storm regained their footing to beat the Omaha Lancers 4-2 on Sunday at Liberty First Credit Union Arena.
Tri-City (5-6-3, 13 pts) snapped its three-game losing streak with the victory. Omaha (5-8-1, 11 pts) has lost five of its last six games.
The Lancers started the contest with a flurry of offense and held a 2-0 lead just over a minute into the first period.
David Deputy tallied the Lancers' first goal 44 seconds in. The Miami commit received a pass from Jamison Sluys near the Lancers' blue line and took the puck with speed down the right wing into the Omaha offensive zone. Deputy flicked a snapshot past Tri-City starting goaltender Adam Dybal into the back of the Storm net for his fifth of the season.
Omaha maintained firm offensive zone possession following Deputy's goal. The Lancers found the back of the cage again at the 1:17 mark of the period. Omaha's Gleb Semenov got the puck behind the Storm net and walked it to the left wing faceoff dot. Semenov then ripped a shot top shelf on Dybal to double Omaha's lead.
The Storm pulled Dybal immediately after Semenov's tally. Erick Roest, who started last night's matchup with Dubuque, guarded Tri-City's crease the rest of the night.
Tri-City found its footing as the first period continued. The Storm put a goal on the scoreboard in the middle part of the opening frame. Lincoln Hjelm, an Omaha native and University of Nebraska Omaha commit, received a centering pass as he cut down the middle of the ice. Hjelm fired a shot in the slot of the Omaha zone that went between the legs of Lancers netminder Mikhail Yegorov to make it a 2-1 game. It was Hjelm's first goal of the season.
The Storm came out with strong shifts early in the second, and tied the game with less than two minutes gone by in the period. At the 1:47 mark of the frame, Nolan Roed fed Artemi Nizameyev, who skated through the middle of the ice into the Omaha zone. Nizameyev fired a snapshot from the slot that beat Yegorov to knot the game at two.
Tri-City completed the comeback about ten minutes later after taking their first lead of the game. Carmelo Crandell rushed the puck over the Lancers blue line and into the right wing circle of the Omaha zone. The Arizona State commit then dropped a gorgeous pass to Ilia Morozov, who sniped a shot top corner in the Omaha net to hand the Storm their first lead of the night. It was the Miami commit's third goal of the season.
Roest made several key saves throughout the second and third periods to keep Tri-City with the lead. The Lethbridge, Alberta native stopped all 21 shots he faced in the game.
With just under three minutes remaining in regulation, Omaha pulled Yegorov. At the 18:07 mark of the third, Nizameyev grabbed a turned-over puck on the left wing of the neutral zone and made several nifty moves around Omaha defenders to get the puck to the goal line. After completely evading the Lancers defense, Nizameyev selflessly set up Rhys Wallin with a centering pass in front of the empty cage. Wallin buried a shot to make it 4-2 Tri-City.
The Lancers generated a handful of offensive chances after again pulling Yegorov in the final minute, but did not score the rest of the game.
Tri-City won its first matchup of the season after trailing by two goals.
Up next: The Storm host Sioux Falls in a two-game series on Friday and Saturday inside Viaero Center. Puckdrop is scheduled for 7:05 pm CT on Friday and 6:05 pm CT on Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at stormhockey.com, via phone at 308-338-8144, or in-person at the Viaero Center box office.
Sunday's box score
