The Waterloo Black Hawks seized control early and weathered the Tri-City Storm Saturday at Young Arena, eventually pulling away to a 5-1 victory.
The result was Waterloo's fourth consecutive victory, building on weekend-opening 7-1 result against the Storm on Friday. The Black Hawks last four-game winning streak ended just days before the 2019/20 season itself was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This fall, Waterloo was already finding success prior to the current run, adding up to six wins in the last seven games.
Saturday, the Hawks scored on their first and last shots of the opening period. In between, the Storm carried play, killing off a two-man advantage and holding a 13-8 shots edge at intermission.
Nonetheless, Waterloo went to the locker room with a 2-0 lead. Gavin O'Connell was responsible for the opening marker at 1:04. There was a lot of traffic on right wing as the Hawks tried to carry the puck into the offensive end; suddenly it came off the wall and into the slot. Gavin O'Connell swooped in, going from forehand to backhand then back before slipping in his chance against starting netminder Sebastian Wraneschitz.
Emmett Croteau was solid during the mid-stages of the period, making his best early stop with his right pad during a Storm power play just over five minutes into the contest.
Waterloo struck on an advantage of their own with 3.8 seconds left before intermission. Garrett Schifsky kicked the puck across the top of the crease, and Gavin Lindberg bulled his way from behind the net to get to it, scoring past a surprised Nick Erickson. During the late minutes of the first period, Erickson had come into the game as Wraneschitz dealt with an equipment problem.
There was no scoring in the second, but the Hawks flipped the shot count, keeping the Storm on their heals and generating 15 chances to seven.
Early in the third, Connor Brown and James Hong put the game out of reach as each set up a goal by the other. At 1:46, the Hawks controlled a neutral zone draw, moving the puck quickly up left wing, with Hong feeding Brown for a shot under the crossbar. Not quite four-and-a-half minutes later, Brown returned the favor and Hong scored from a similar spot in the left circle.
The Storm's lone goal came with just under five minutes to play. Moments after a Waterloo penalty ended, Tanner Adams put in a chance off a defenseman from a sharp angle.
It wasn't long before the visitors went to another power play, which became a five-on-three, then a six-on-three when Wraneschitz went to the bench for an extra attacker. However, after a couple of blocked shot, Tyler Procious gained control between the circles in his defensive zone and sent a shot into the open Tri-City net from 170 feet away at 17:28.
The late power play opportunities gave Tri-City a 34-33 shots edge for the night. Croteau finished the win with 33 saves.
The Hawks are now in the back half of an eight-game homestand. The stretch continues on Friday against the Lincoln Stars at 7:05 p.m. It's the next Domino's Family 4-Pack Night, with four tickets, four sodas, four chuck-a-pucks, and a large Domino's Pizza available for $60. It's also the next United States Air Force College Night, with $10 tickets for college students with ID. To order seats, call the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680.
Tri-City 0 0 1 - 1
Waterloo 2 0 3 - 5
1st Period-1, Waterloo, O'Connell 2 (Lindberg, Rinzel), 1:04. 2, Waterloo, Lindberg 4 19:56 (PP). Penalties-Kerr Wat (high sticking), 3:28; Roukounakis Tc (hooking), 12:52; Dowiak Tc (checking from behind, misconduct-checking from behind), 13:12; Tornqvist Tc (tripping), 18:21.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tornqvist Tc (interference), 8:13; Constance Tc (high sticking), 15:59.
3rd Period-3, Waterloo, Brown 3 (Hong, Robertson), 1:46. 4, Waterloo, Hong 5 (Brown, DeGraves), 6:06. 5, Tri-City, Adams 3 (Montgomery, Ashcroft), 15:05. 6, Waterloo, Procious 1 17:28 (SH EN). Penalties-Hong Wat (hooking), 9:49; Klee Wat (tripping), 13:02; Geary Wat (charging), 16:00; O'Connell Wat (bench minor-too many men), 16:37.
Shots on Goal-Tri-City 13-7-14-34. Waterloo 8-15-10-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Tri-City 0 / 5; Waterloo 1 / 5.
Goalies-Tri-City, Wraneschitz 1-1-0-0 (28 shots-25 saves); Erickson 0-2-0-0 (4 shots-3 saves). Waterloo, Croteau 4-5-0-0 (34 shots-33 saves).
A-1,723
Referees-Hunter Mottinger, Evan Reddick.
Linesmen-Dane Hopkins, Aaron McCrary.
