Stampede Roll Over Phantoms 6-1

YOUNGSTOWN, OH -- Two days after allowing seven goals, the Sioux Falls Stampede exploded for six goals of their own in a 6-1 rout of the Youngstown Phantoms in the first game of a weekend series at the Covelli Center Friday night.

Tony Calderone scored twice and assisted on another while five other players tallied goals in the victory. David Jacobson earned his fifth win of the season in goal with 25 saves as the Stampede improved to 8-4-1 on the year and 7-2-1 on the road.

The Herd wasted little time getting on the board as Michael Buonincontri recorded his fourth goal of the season 3:26 into the game. Conner Valesano took the puck through the neutral zone and sent the puck down the right wing boards to Buonincontri who skated inside the right circle and wristed a shot past the stick side of Phantoms goaltender Sean Romeo. 21 seconds later the Herd struck again as Keith Burchett sent a cross ice pass to Calderone who was open in front of the net and wrist a shot past the glove side of Romeo to increase the Herd’s lead to 2-0 just 3:47 in. Both teams exchanged power plays, but came up short and the game remained 2-0 until the final 23 seconds when Ed McGovern’s blast from the right point that went through traffic into the back of the net to give Sioux Falls a 3-0 edge after one period. The Herd outshot the Phantoms 10 to 9 in the period.

The Stampede picked up right where they left off in the second, scoring 11:04 into the period when Bo Pellah scored on the power play. Calderone slid the puck to the right point to Pellah who fired a shot through traffic, off goaltender DeAugustine and into the back of the net to give the Herd a 4-0 advantage. The Phantoms broke through with a power play goal of their own, scoring at 13:18 when Luke Stork took a pass from Truman Reed inside the right circle and wristed a shot into the upper right hand corner of the net, past the glove side of Jacobson.

The Herd regained their four goal advantage when Calderone tallied his second goal of the game at 18:36. Burchett got a puck on net that was stopped by DeAugustine, but Calderone pounced on the rebound, diving to knock the puck into the net to make it a 5-1 game. The Stampede went back on the power play late in the period and scored with 1.6 seconds remaining when Valesano recorded his fourth goal of the season. McGovern sent the puck towards the net and Valesano picked it up to the right of DeAugustine before raising it just under the crossbar and into the net to give the Stampede a 6-1 edge at the end of the second period. Sioux Falls outshot Youngstown 14-10 in the period.

Neither team would score in the third as both teams finished with seven shots and the Herd outshot the Phantoms 31-26 on the night while going 2-for-6 on the power play while Youngstown was 1-for-5.

The Stampede and Phantoms will square off again on Saturday night in the second and final game of their weekend series.

Courtesy:  Sioux Falls Stampede