KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm open a home-and-home series with the Lincoln Stars on Friday night at Viaero Center. Puckdrop is set for 7:05 pm CT.
Tri-City has a magic number of five standings points to clinch an eighth consecutive berth to the Clark Cup playoffs. A Storm win and Waterloo loss at Dubuque this evening would shrink the Tri-City magic number to one standings point.
Friday is Epilepsy Awareness Night. The Storm will wear special uniforms honoring those who battle epilepsy during the contest. Those jerseys will be auctioned off live after the game. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Epilepsy Foundation of Nebraska.
Kids tickets are also $5.00 on Friday with the purchase of an adult ticket courtesy of the FunZone Arcade inside of Pizza Ranch Kearney.
The Storm are additionally offering Nebraska Lottery Family Packs for Friday's matchup. Get four tickets, four hot dogs and four cans of soda for $44. Each pack also includes ten Nebraska Lottery scratch-off tickets. Limited quantities are available.
Fans can purchase tickets at stormhockey.com.
The game will also be broadcast on FloHockey and Storm Radio.
Tri-City (25-19-5, 55 pts, 3rd place Western Conf.)
Previously:
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Swept U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP) Under-17 team across last Friday (2-1 win) and Saturday (6-0 win) at Viaero Center
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Saturday: six different Tri-City players tallied goals highlighted by Adam Obusek and Gairin Michalski who scored for the first time in their USHL careers
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Saturday: netminder Owen Nelson halted all 21 NTDP shots to collect his first career shutout
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Saturday: six goals tied season-high for goals in one game...Storm have now scored six goals in three games this season
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Saturday: three Storm players logged their first career multi-point games: Cooper Ernewein (1-1-2), Gairin Michalski (1-1-2), and Adam Obusek (1-1-2)
Team Notes:
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Won five straight games, tied for the longest-active winning streak among USHL teams (Green Bay)
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Five straight victories tie a season-high for consecutive wins
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Victorious in 11 of past 13 matchups
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13-3-1 record since January 1
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Goaltending duo of Michal Pradel (Friday) and Owen Nelson (Saturday) combined to stop 48 of 49 NTDP shots last weekend, a save percentage of .980
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9 of next 10 games will take place at Viaero Center (13 games remain in regular season)
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Team defense ranks third in USHL at 2.80 goals allowed per game
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Penalty kill (86.3%) ranks first in USHL
Player Notes:
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Bode Laylin: Has put up 12 points (5-7-12) over his past eight games…33 points this season place sixth among USHL defenseman…nine goals tie for second among USHL blue liners…five power play goals tie for second among league defenseman
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Carson Pilgrim: 19 points (8-11-18) over his past 17 games
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Noah LaPointe: Contributed two assists Saturday vs. NTDP for first multi-point game of season…was first multi-point game since March 23, 2025 (two assists)...LaPointe was a member of the Chicago Steel and faced NTDP in the appearance
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Michal Pradel: has won three straight and nine of his past 12 starts…four shutouts lead USHL goaltenders…866 saves rank third… .919 save percentage is third…2.44 goals against average places seventh
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Owen Nelson: has won five straight starts…logged .952 save percentage over last five starts (139 saves on 146 shots)...2.79 save percentage ranks tenth among USHL goaltenders
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Oliver Ozogany: 88 shots this season place fourth among USHL rookies
Lincoln (22-23-5, 49 pts, 5th place Western Conf.)
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Dropped 3-0 contest to Sioux Falls Thursday at home
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Winless in nine of past 11 games
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Thursday: was third time getting shutout in February
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Thursday: goaltender Charles Menard halted 36 of 38 Stampede shots
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Alex Pelletier (39-27-66) leads Stars and ties for first among all USHL players in scoring…Layne Loomer (22-37-59) follows and places third among USHL players in scoring
Season series: Friday's matchup is the eighth of nine regular season meetings between Tri-City and Lincoln during 2025-2026. The Storm are 3-3-1 against the Stars this season, including 2-1-1 at Viaero Center. The Storm's nine matchups against Lincoln are more than any other opponent this year.
