John Mustard gave the Waterloo Black Hawks three different leads on Saturday against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders during a 4-3 overtime victory at Imon Ice Arena.
After scoring in the first and third periods, Mustard completed his hat trick at 1:26 of overtime. The effort makes him the USHL's top rookie goal-scorer at this stage of the season.
All three Hawks on the ice touched the puck in or above the left circle moments before the winning goal was scored. Jakub Altrichter and Carson Reed exchanged a handoff before leaving the puck for Mustard. He beat the seemingly hypnotized home team and goalie Rudy Guimond with a shot under the crossbar.
It was the first three-goal game by a Black Hawk since Griffin Erdman produced a hat trick on the road against the Lincoln Stars on March 31st last spring. It had been much longer since Waterloo had won on the road in Cedar Rapids: the most recent prior victory in that building had been February 15, 2020.
Each team scored a four-on-four goal less than two minutes into the game. Waterloo went ahead first at 1:06. Mustard was near the top of the right circle with traffic in the flight path of the puck. His attempt went just inside the opposite post past a screened Guimond. In the next shift, Cedar Rapids got the goal back when Ryan O'Connell swept in the rebound of Amine Hajibi's initial shot from the deep slot.
Cedar Rapids nudged in front for the only time Saturday with 26.6 seconds left in the period. Their goal came on a shot from the left boards by Elliott Groenwold.
The Black Hawks' captain tied it up with the only goal of the second period. Myles Hilman was camped near the top of the crease when Connor Brown sent the puck his direction. Hilman redirected it in for his first goal of the season. It was the only power play goal of the night for either side.
Mustard gave Waterloo a new lead at 5:19 of the third period. Gavyn Thoreson forced a turnover behind the RoughRider net, slinging a pass to Altrichter. Mustard then received Altrichter's feed in the slot and snapped home a quick chance.
Cedar Rapids evened the score at 10:14 when Riley Bassen caught up with a loose puck behind the Black Hawks goal. Bassen's centering attempt hit a Black Hawk and deflected in.
Calvin Vachon was the winning netminder with 18 saves. It was his ninth win of the season.
The Black Hawks open a new month next Friday with a December 1st home matchup against the Sioux Falls Stampede. It's a Black Hawks Family 4 Pack game, featuring four tickets, four chuck-a-pucks, and $32 worth of concession vouchers for $64. Call the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680.
Waterloo 1 1 1 1 - 4
Cedar Rapids 2 0 1 0 - 3
1st Period-1, Waterloo, Mustard 9 (Lindberg), 1:06. 2, Cedar Rapids, O'Connell 3 (Hajibi), 1:47. 3, Cedar Rapids, Groenewold 1 (Larrigan, Stewart), 19:33. Penalties-Erdman Wat (roughing), 0:24; Groenewold Cr (roughing), 0:24; Hajibi Cr (hooking), 4:25; Stewart Cr (holding), 12:20; Miller Wat (holding), 17:09.
2nd Period-4, Waterloo, Hilman 1 (Brown, Lindberg), 2:34 (PP). Penalties-Hajibi Cr (interference), 1:13; O'Connell Cr (interference), 8:13; served by Mustard Wat (bench minor-too many men), 10:24; Thoreson Wat (roughing), 13:39; Philbrick Cr (roughing), 13:39; Townsend Wat (tripping), 13:57; Kald Cr (tripping), 19:53.
3rd Period-5, Waterloo, Mustard 10 (Altrichter, Thoreson), 5:19. 6, Cedar Rapids, Bassen 2 10:14. Penalties-No Penalties
1st OT Period-7, Waterloo, Mustard 11 (Altrichter), 1:26. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Waterloo 11-8-8-2-29. Cedar Rapids 7-8-5-1-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Waterloo 1 / 5; Cedar Rapids 0 / 3.
Goalies-Waterloo, Vachon 9-2-0-0 (21 shots-18 saves). Cedar Rapids, Guimond 5-5-2-1 (29 shots-25 saves).
A-3,056
