For 35 minutes Saturday night the Sioux Falls Stampede looked to be on their way to victory. Unfortunately, the final 25 minutes didnt go as planned and resulted in their second straight loss. Leading 4-2 midway through the second period, the Waterloo Black Hawks scored six unanswered goals and topped the Herd, 8-4 at Young Arena.
Dennis Kravchenko and Todd Skirving tallied a goal and an assist each while Jan Obernesser stopped 23 of 30 shots in net as the Stampede fell to 0-2-0 on the season while the defending Western Conference champions improved to 2-0-0.
For the second straight night the Herd grabbed the first goal of the game. RJ Majkozak wristed a shot that deflected into the high slot to Sam Rothstein who fired a shot through traffic and through the pads of Waterloo netminder Logan Halladay to give the Herd a 1-0 lead 11:52 in. The Hawks would respond less than three minutes later when Kyle Schmidt tipped a shot from Vince Hinostroza past Stampede goaltender Jan Obernesser to make it a 1-1 game. Both teams exchanged scoring chances, but the score remained 1-1 at the end of one period.
Sioux Falls regained the lead just 1:52 into the period when Kyle Schempp slapped in a pass in the slot from C.J. Franklin and gave the Herd a 2-1 lead. Minutes later the Herd scored again when Dennis Kravchenko brought the puck into the Hawks zone and dropped it to Todd Skriving who blasted a shot from the left circle into the net to make it a 3-1 game. The Hawks responded 57 seconds later though when Schmidt tallied his second of the night for the Herd on a 2-on-1 rush with Hinostroza.
The Herd would regain their two-goal lead at 10:46 when Kravchenko tallied his first of the season. Skirving took the puck just outside the crease and fed Kravchenko who was open in the slot and blasted the puck into the back of the net to give the Herd a 4-2 edge. Once again the Hawks would respond though, scoring at 16:18 when Hinostroza wristed a shot past Obernesser on the powerplay. Hinostroza struck again in the final minute when he took a pass from Alexi Rossi and brought the puck down the right wing boards, before toe-dragging the puck into the slot and wristing the puck past the stick side of Obernesser to tie the game 4-4 at the end of two periods. Waterloo outshot the Stampede 10-6 in the period.
The Black Hawks got things rolling in third, scoring on the powerplay just 5:17 in on a goal from Blake Winiecki. Five minutes later, the Hawks extended their lead to two when Zach Stepan sent a pass in the slot to Pijus Rulevicius who onet-timed it past Obernesser to give Waterloo a 6-4 edge. Later in the period, the Stampede pulled Obernesser for an extra attacker, but Ryan Papas clearing attempt from the Hawks zone found the back of the net. Waterloo added a goal from Jake Horton with four seconds remaining to seal an 8-4 victory.
The Black Hawks outshot the Stampede 31 to 22 and finished 2-for-3 on the powerplay while the Herd went 0-for-2.
The Stampede will now prepare for their home opener which takes place this Friday at the Sioux Falls Arena against the Omaha Lancers at 7:05 PM. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at the Sioux Falls Arena Box Office or any Ticketmaster location.
Courtesy: Jim Olander, SF Stampede
