WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Tri-City's Sammy Courtemanche recorded a hat trick and the Storm put up five first period goals to pick up a 7-3 win over the Des Moines Buccaneers on Saturday night at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex. 

Courtemanche's hat trick is the second by a Storm player this season and first Tri-City hat trick in October since 2011 (Nick Lapin). 

Tri-City (4-2-0, 8 pts) has won four of its past five games. Des Moines (5-1-0, 10 pts) suffered its first loss of the season. 

The Storm came out flying with five opening period tallies. 

Des Moines struck first on an Eli Bimmerle rush shot from the top of the right circle with 7:20 gone by in the opening period, but Tri-City answered just 24 seconds later. Courtemanche drove to the slot of the Storm offensive zone and flipped a shot beyond the blocker of Des Moines goaltender Kimi Saffran to even the game. 

Tri-City took the lead for good when Matthew Krayer tipped a shot from his brother Dylan Krayer at the 8:19 mark of the first. Jackson Smith started the play with a shot from the right wing. A Saffran save and rebound traveled to the left half wall in the Des Moines zone, where Matthew Krayer quickly rifled a low shot to the net. Matthew Krayer's shot was tipped by Dylan Krayer to the top shelf of the Buccaneer cage. It was Matthew Krayer's third marker of the year. 

Evan Sofikitis made it 3-1 Tri-City with 11:18 gone by in the opening frame. As the Storm vigorously moved the puck around their offensive zone, a pass found Sofikitis in the high slot. The Birmingham, Michigan native rifled a snapshot top shelf on Saffran to make it 3-1. 

It became a three-goal game thanks to Courtemanche's second tally of the frame at the 12:03 mark of the first. Courtemanche caught a Trevor Hill feed from the right half wall between the circles in the Des Moines zone and ripped a shot beyond Saffran's blocker side. 

Captain Bode Wise added his first career Storm goal to cap the scoring with less than two minutes left in the opening frame. Off a feed from Aleksandr Sokolov, Wise sent a shot from up high on the right wing through traffic and beyond Saffran to make it 5-1. 

Des Moines closed the lead to three with the game's lone second period goal. As the Buccaneers entered the Tri-City zone on a power play, former Storm forward Mason Jenson set up a streaking Riley Zupfer with a feed at the top of the left circle. Zupfer fired a snapshot that beat Storm netminder Ryan Denes off the right pad. It was Zupfer's third goal of the campaign. 

The Buccaneers made it interesting by closing the lead to two goals early in the third. After receiving a feed on the right wing and entering the Tri-City zone, Bimmerle made a wrap-around move on the near post of the Storm net and tucked the puck past Denes for his second tally of the night. 

Tri-City came up with two big goals later in the third period to shut down any prospect of a Des Moines comeback. 

With less than four minutes left in regulation, after serving a two minute penalty for holding, Aleksandr Sokolov escaped the Tri-City penalty box and became positioned at neutral ice. Tyler Russo sent a feed to Sokolov from the Storm zone to set up a breakaway. Sokolov made a forehand-backhand move on Kavcic to finish the play and put Tri-City up 6-3. 

A little over two minutes later, Stephen Bloomer set up Courtemanche with a breakaway feed up the left wing of neutral ice. Courtemanche closed in on Kavcic and tucked a shot five hole to complete his three-goal night. 

Four Storm players finished with multiple points. Alongside Courtemanche's three goals, Sokolov (1-2-3), Matthew Krayer (1-1-2), and Dylan Krayer (0-2-2) each found the scoresheet multiple times. 

Denes stopped 27 of 30 Des Moines shots to earn his second win of the year. The Buccaneers' Saffran stopped six of 11 Tri-City attempts in 17:53 of action. Kavcic halted 8 of 10 attempts in 42:07 on the ice. 

Up next: Tri-City visits the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-17 squad for games on Friday (6:00 pm CT) and Saturday (5:00 pm CT) next weekend. Both matchups in Plymouth, Michigan will be broadcast on USAHockeyTV and Storm Radio.