USHL Preseason Friday Wrap: Connor's Three-Point Night, Spehar's First, Katzin Scores Twice
Recapping all of Friday's preseason action around the USHL
Muskegon 5, Youngstown 2
The Lumberjacks used a three-goal third period to skate past the defending Clark Cup champion Youngstown Phantoms in their preseason opener on Friday.
Joe Connor led all Jacks skaters with three points (one goal, two assists). In a choppy first period that saw the two teams combined for 119 PIM and three players receive game ejections, Zach Osborn opened the scoring for Youngstown less than three minutes in.
Connor tied the game just over four minutes later before the bulk of the penalties took over. The middle frame saw more flow to the game, with Mikey Burchill scoring his first as a member of the Phantoms. However, Cody Croal tied the game up with less than four minutes remaining.
Into the third period, Sam Spehar flew past the Youngstown defense and rocketed a shot far-side off the post and in. Croal added his second just over one minute later. And at the 14:44 mark of the third, Xavier Veilleux scored his first of the exhibition schedule.
Muskegon’s Paxton Geisel took over in net halfway through the second period, stopping 23-of-24 shots sent his way.
Green Bay 6, Dubuque 5
In a rematch of their first-round playoff meeting last year, Green Bay outlasted Dubuque.
Three Green Bay skaters recorded multi-point efforts, including tender signing Lev Katzin, who scored his second goal of the game with 14.6 seconds left in regulation to give the Gamblers the win.
Mikey DeAngelo and Ben Poitras both tallied a goal and an assist on the night. Similarly, Dubuque saw four skaters record multi-point games, including James Reeder, who tallied two assists. Katzin’s first goal came 22 seconds into the third period, evening the score at four goals apiece.
Gavin Moffatt made his preseason debut for Green Bay, stopping 30-of-35 shots on goal.
Des Moines 3, Sioux City 2 (OT)
James Goffredo’s power-play goal just 3:05 into overtime lifted Des Moines to a comeback victory in the team’s preseason opener.
Braedon Ford gave the Bucs an early 1-0 advantage, scoring 1:05 into the first period before Gavin Garry responded for Sioux City less than two minutes later. The first period ended tied, 1-1. Into the middle stanza, Nikolai Tishkevich put the Muskies in front at the 3:14 mark, assisted by Sam Court.
The game looked destined to finish 2-1 before Liam Watkins tied the game with 2:30 left in regulation, giving way to Goffredo’s heroics in the extra session.
Des Moines went 1-for-8 on the power play, while Sioux City went 0-for-3.
Tri-City 4, Sioux Falls 2
Nick Peluso recorded a team-leading two points (one goal, one assist), while Ivan Zhigalov stopped 16-of-18 shots on net as Tri-City skated past Sioux Falls in the team’s preseason opener.
Nolan Roed opened the scoring for the Storm at the 8:58 mark of the first period. Sioux Falls responded less than two minutes later on Micah Berger’s tally. Into the second frame, Peluo scored his first of the exhibition schedule, followed by Cameron Springer’s unassisted goal, giving Tri-City a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
J.J. Wiebusch cut the Herd’s deficit in half with under nine minutes left in regulation. However, Dallas Vieau recorded an empty-netter with 1:07 left to seal the win for the Storm.
Caleb Heil got the start for Sioux Falls, stopping 13-of-16 shots sent his way.
Lincoln 3, Omaha 1
Despite outshooting the Stars 25-20, Omaha dropped its first preseason contest of 2023-24.
All the scoring was done in the second period, with Jack Larrigan and German Yavash recording the first two goals, both assisted by Keaton Peters.
After Yavash’s goal, Ethan Fredericks cut Lincoln’s lead in half. However, Aidan Janz made it a two-goal lead again at the 15:47 mark of the frame, and that’s how the score would remain.
Croix Kochendorfer made his Omaha debut, playing 29:53 and stopping 12-of-13 shots on net. Yan Shostak played all 60 minutes for Lincoln, turning aside 24-of-25 shots.
Madison 3, Cedar Rapids 2 (OT)
James Hong scored the game-winner at the 1:46 mark of overtime to give the Madison Capitols their first preseason win in the Andy Brandt era.
Emanuelson Charonneau-Joseph opened the scoring for Cedar Rapids with under three minutes left in the first period. Madison tied the game at one on Harper Frey’s first of the exhibition schedule.
The two teams traded goals in the third period, with Finn Brink getting on the board for Madison and Riley Fitzgerald for the RoughRiders.
Rudy Guimond made his Cedar Rapids debut, turning aside 47-of-50 shots in a losing effort.
Fargo 4, Waterloo 2
The Fargo Force used a two-goal third period to skate past the Waterloo Black Hawks in preseason action on Friday night.
Zam Plante opened the scoring for Fargo at the 3:59 mark of the first period, the first of two goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick. Zach Bade responded for Waterloo just over four minutes later, scoring unassisted.
John Mustard temporarily put the Black Hawks in front early in the second period before the Force finished with three unanswered goals. Mac Swanson scored his first of the exhibition schedule.
Then, in the third period, Plante scored his second, and Iiro Hakkarainen sealed it with the empty-netter.
Hampton Slukynsky and Anton Castro evenly split time in net, stopping 5-of-7 and 7-of-7 shots, respectively.
(Videos courtesy of FloHockey)