SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — The Sioux Falls Stampede got goals from four different players while Xavier Medina stopped 29 of 31 shots as the Herd downed rival Sioux City, 4-2 before over 6,000 fans at the PREMIER Center for Pink of the Rink Night. The win leapfrogged the Stampede over the Musketeers in the standings as Sioux Falls improved to 5-5-1 on the young season.
After a slow start on Wednesday, the Stampede wanted to come out and get off to a good start on Friday and they would accomplish that by tallying 15 shots in the first period. The Herd grabbed the first goal of the game at 10:07 with their league-leading 14th power play goal of the season. Nick Ring wristed a shot from the high slot that was stopped by Sioux City goaltender Alex Mangbo, but Harris jumped in on the rebound and knocked it past his left pad and into the net for a 1-0 advantage. Sioux Falls would out shot the Musketeers 15-7 in the period.
Sioux City stole the momentum early in the second, scoring just 12 seconds into the period when Ben Poitras wristed a shot past the glove side of Stampede goaltender Xavier Medina to tie the game. It remained that way until the 10:32 mark when Sioux City took the lead off a wrist shot from Dylan Godbout that beat Medina on the stick side.
The celebration wouldn’t last long though as the Herd would tie the game at 14:07 of the period on a goal from Ryan Gordon. Adam Zlnka wristed a shot that went off the pad of Mangbo and bounced between the circles to Gordon who fired a shot just under the crossbar to tie the game at two. Less than 90 seconds later the Herd regained the lead when Clint Levens knocked home a loose rebound in front of the goal for his second of the season. Sioux Falls out shot the Musketeers 12-10 in the period.
With just a one goal lead the Stampede knew the Musketeers would make a push in the third and they did, putting up 14 shots. Medina continued to shine and got better as the game went on, making several big stops to keep the Muskies off the board. Late in the game Sioux City would be awarded a power play and eventually pulled their goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage, but Zach Sharp would end it when he sent the puck the length of the ice and into the net for a 4-2 lead for Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls out shot Sioux City 35-31 and went 1-for-4 on the power play while the Musketeers went 0-for-2.
The Stampede return to action Saturday when they travel to Waterloo to face the Black Hawks at 6:05 PM. Fans can catch the game live on KELO News Talk 1320-AM, 105.1-FM, 107.9-FM and KELO.com starting at 5:40 PM.
