The Waterloo Black Hawks opened a two-game weekend against the Tri-City Storm by scoring seven goals on their first 20 shots, outdistancing the visitors at Young Arena by a 7-1 final.
The performance was the Hawks' highest-scoring game so far in 2022/23. The last time Waterloo produced seven goals in one contest was April 15th during a tilt with the Sioux Falls Stampede.
The Black Hawks celebrated a four-goal outburst in the opening 20 minutes, cued at 6:55 when Zach Bade came barreling into the zone as the trailer on a rush. Jake McLean set him up at the left circle hashmark, and Bade beat Sebastian Wraneschitz with a wrister to the glove side.
The Storm had apparently tied the game at 9:20, however the equalizer by Tanner Adams was disallowed when a video review showed that Adams had batted the puck with a high stick.
Waterloo pounced shortly after that with three goals in 60 seconds. McLean had the first at 11:17, receiving a puck from Nicholas DeGraves, cutting across the top of the crease, and slipping in a backhander.
Connor Brown scored 18 seconds later. On a two-on-one rush with Patrick Geary, Brown's pass to the Hawks' defenseman was blocked and came right back to him. He flipped it in from a sharp angle.
Then skating four-on-four, the Hawks struck again at 12:17. Gennadi Chaly stepped into the zone and triggered a shot from near the top of the right circle, beating Wraneschitz across his body and inside the opposite post.
Tri-City slowed the Black Hawks momentarily in the second period; after a couple of failed Waterloo clearing attempts, the puck came to the slot where Cam O'Neill beat Jack Spicer in a one-on-one situation.
However, the Hawks then reeled off three power play goals in the period. Two of them came during a major penalty to Samo Meritahti. At 5:39, Spicer hit Garrett Schifsky on a 100-foot pass, and Waterloo's leading goal-scorer rifled a shot to the top corner. Then at 9:16, Brown kept a puck in the Storm zone, and created the opportunity for James Hong's brilliant goal from the left dot. Hong got a shot-blocker down, as well luring reserve netminder Nick Erickson to drop into the butterfly, before lifting a shot over Erickson's blocker.
Schifsky added another during the Hawks next power play, putting a shot off the post and in at 13:09.
After all the scoring in the first 40 minutes, the 7-1 count held during a fast-moving third. Waterloo held Tri-City to four shots in the final period, outshooting the Storm 35-14 for the game.
The Hawks and Storm meet against Saturday an hour earlier. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m. It's a United States Air Force College Night, with $10 tickets for all college students with ID. To order, call the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680. Seats can also be ordered online at tickets.waterlooblackhawks.com.
Tri-City 0 1 0 - 1
Waterloo 4 3 0 - 7
1st Period-1, Waterloo, Bade 2 (McLean, Kerr), 6:55. 2, Waterloo, McLean 2 (DeGraves), 11:17. 3, Waterloo, Brown 2 (DeGraves, Hong), 11:35. 4, Waterloo, Chaly 3 (Lindberg, Robertson), 12:17. Penalties-Smith Tc (roughing), 11:57; Erdman Wat (roughing), 11:57; Bade Wat (high sticking), 15:22.
2nd Period-5, Tri-City, O'Neill 3 (Adams), 1:56. 6, Waterloo, Schifsky 6 (Spicer), 5:39 (PP). 7, Waterloo, Hong 4 (Brown), 9:16 (PP). 8, Waterloo, Schifsky 7 (Robertson, Lindberg), 13:09 (PP). Penalties-Meritahti Tc (major-boarding, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct, game misconduct-boarding), 5:04; Pionk Wat (major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 5:04; Nizameyev Tc (slashing), 11:36; Kinsman Tc (cross checking), 17:23.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Brown Wat (tripping), 7:00; Connelly Tc (slashing, misconduct-continuing altercation), 17:31; Chaly Wat (major-fighting, game misconduct-aggressor), 17:31; Chaly Wat (game misconduct-fighting (under 5 mins)), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Tri-City 8-2-4-14. Waterloo 11-12-12-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Tri-City 0 / 3; Waterloo 3 / 4.
Goalies-Tri-City, Wraneschitz 1-1-0-0 (10 shots-6 saves); Erickson 0-1-0-0 (25 shots-22 saves). Waterloo, Spicer 4-0-0-0 (14 shots-13 saves).
A-1,873
Referees-Anthony Vikhter, Kyle Bauman.
Linesmen-Reilly Hickey, Dana Naylor.
