Stampede Rally to Top Stars in a Shootout

LINCOLN, NE -- The Sioux Falls Stampede rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Lincoln Stars 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night at The Ice Box.

Dennis Kravchenko and Zeb Knutson scored in the shootout as the Herd outscored Lincoln, 2-0 to win the game. Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves for the Stampede who won third straight game and moved back into first place with the victory. The Herd are now 16-7-1 and have a one point lead on Waterloo for first.

Thomas Forgione, Dennis Kravchenko and Kyle Schempp scored in regulation for Sioux Falls who are now 2-2-0 against the Stars this season and earned their first win in Lincoln since 2011.

Lincoln grabbed the first goal of the game 9:10 on a goal from Eric Scheid. Vinni Letteri wristed a shot in the slot that was stopped by Stampede goaltender Charlie Lindgren, but the rebound bounced back through the slot to Scheid who blasted a shot into the upper left hand corner of the net. The Stampede relied on Lindgren for the rest of the period who stopped 11 shots in the period while the Herd mustered just five shots in the period.

In the second, Sioux Falls got back into the game when Thomas Forgione tallied his fifth goal of the season 6:35 in. Forgione stole the puck at center and skated in on a breakaway , beating Lincoln netminder Jackson Teichroeb on the stick side to tie the game at one. Things started to get a little chippy as the period went on with both teams exchanging some powerplay chances. The Stars regained their lead at 16:34 when Eric Scheid picked up a loose puck in front of the crease and slipped the puck through a sea of players and into the back of the net to give Lincoln a 2-1 edge. Both teams finished the period with 11 shots on goal.

In the third, the Stars regained their two goal lead when Vinni Lettieri slipped the puck under the pads of Lindgren just 4:43 into the period. Sioux Falls began the rally though just a few minutes later when Zeb Knutson set up Dennis Kravchenko at 7:07.  Knudson raced down the left wing boards into the Stars zone and sent a perfect pass onto the tap of Kravchenko who one-timed it past the pads of Teichroeb to make it a one-goal game. Sioux Falls would tie the game at 10:08 when Kyle Schempp scored on the powerplay. Cody Milan won an offensive zone face-off and dropped it back to the top of the left circle to Schempp who blasted the puck into the upper right hand corner of the net to tie the game at three.

That goal eventually forced overtime and a shootout. The Stampede got goals from Kravchenko and Knutson in the shootout while Lindgren denied both shooters faced to lead the Stampede to a 4-3 victory.

Lincoln outshot the Stampede 34-28 on the night and went 0-for-3 on the powerplay while the Herd went 1-for-6.

The Stampede return to action Sunday late afternoon when they travel to Omaha to face the Lancers at 5:05 PM.

Courtesy:  Jim Olander/Sioux Falls Stampede