WATERLOO, Iowa –  Three unanswered third period goals courtesy of Connor Brown, Carson Pilgrim, and Cam Springer lifted the Tri-City Storm to a 5-3 win over the Waterloo Black Hawks on Friday night at Young Arena. 

Tri-City (17-17-5, 39 pts) returned to the .500 mark and extended its point streak to a season-long six games. Waterloo (12-22-2, 26 pts) has dropped four straight contests. 

The Storm began their string of three unanswered third period goals just 40 seconds after Waterloo's Travis Lefere handed the Black Hawks a 3-2 advantage. Bode Laylin flipped a bouncing puck to the bottom of the far circle in the Black Hawks zone. Waterloo goaltender Michael Chambre dove after the puck, but was beaten to it by Brown, who stuffed it top shelf prior to the netminder's arrival for his fifth tally of the season. 

The Storm took their first lead of the night at the 9:16 mark of the third. As Tri-City rushed, a beautiful feed from Evan Sofikitis in the Waterloo slot set up Pilgrim with a one-time shot at the bottom of the left circle. The North Dakota commit blasted the puck past Chambre, who could not come up with a save while diving to his right. 

Down 4-3 in the final 90 seconds of regulation, Waterloo pulled Chambre for an extra attacker. Tri-City found the vacant cage with just over 30 seconds left. Springer snatched the puck at the Storm blue line, then marched it nearly the length of the rink to finish into the vacant cage, making it 5-3. 

The first two periods of action were similar in entertainment value to the third. 

The Black Hawks struck first with six seconds remaining in the opening period. As Waterloo entered its offensive zone, Ryan Whiterabbit broke free from Tri-City defenders and fed a streaking Jakeb Lynch down the right wing. Lynch took the puck behind the Storm net, then completed a wraparound goal past the outstretched right pad of Storm netminder Michal Pradel for his first tally since December 9. 

Waterloo doubled its lead just over five minutes into the second. As the Black Hawks rushed toward the Tri-City cage, Atte Vikla passed to an open Tyler Deakos in the left circle of the Storm zone. Deakos retrieved the puck, then quickly released a snapshot beyond Pradel's right pad for his seventh marker of the season. 

Tri-City answered 44 seconds later. Off a Cade Kozak feed, Luka Rohloff skated with the puck untouched from the Storm zone to the top of the left circle in the Black Hawks' end of the ice. From there, the Grand Rapids, Minnesota native popped a shot that dribbled past the outstretched left pad of Chambre for his second tally in four games, making it 2-1. 

The Storm evened the contest with 18 seconds left in the middle frame. Chambre stopped a Mason Jenson shot from the slot, but allowed a rebound toward the right side of his crease. Paul Bloomer eventually grabbed the puck, firing it past the Black Hawk netminder for his sixth goal of the season. 

Waterloo jumped back ahead at the 5:57 mark of the third, making it 3-2. In the midst of a scramble in front of the Tri-City net, Lefere grabbed a loose puck in the Storm slot and ripped it past Pradel for his fifth marker of the campaign. 

Pradel stopped 23 of 26 Black Hawk shots in what became his 12th win of the season. Chambre halted 33 of 37 Tri-City attempts. The Fort Myers, Florida native suffered his ninth loss of the year. 

Tri-City's Brown (1-1-2) and Jenson (0-2-2) finished with multiple points. Brown returned to Waterloo after playing for the Black Hawks between 2021-2024, appearing in 168 career games. Waterloo's Lynch (1-1-2) also found the scoresheet multiple times. 

Up next: Tri-City ends its two-game set at Waterloo on Saturday. Puckdrop is set for 6:35 pm CT. The matchup will be broadcast on FloHockey and Storm Radio.