Story by Tri-City Communications
KEARNEY, NE– The Tri-City Storm won its opening round series over the Sioux Falls Stampede Wednesday night at the Viaero Center with an 8-3 victory. The Storm won the final two games of the Best-Of-Three series after dropping the opening game of the series in overtime on Monday night. Artemi Nizameyev recorded the fourth postseason hat trick in franchise history on Wednesday night after teammate Jake Rozzi scored three goals in Monday’s opening game of the playoffs. Nolan Roed (2), Owen Beckner (2), and Nick Roukounakis also scored for Tri-City in Wednesday’s victory.
The Storm will now advance to play the Anderson Cup Champion Fargo Force in a Best-Of-Five Series in the Western Conference Semifinal Round of the 2024 Clark Cup Playoffs. The series will begin Saturday night at 6:05pm CT at Scheels Arena. The second game of the series will also be played on the Force’s home ice at 7:05pm CT on Monday night. The series will move to the Viaero Center for Game #3 on Wednesday, April 24th. Game #4 (If Necessary) will be played on Thursday, April 25th at 7:05pm CT. The final game in the series (If Necessary) will be played at Scheels Arena on Saturday, April 20th at 7:05pm CT. Tickets to the Storm’s home games in the series will go on sale Friday. Call the Viaero Center Box Office at 308-338-8144 for tickets and more information.
Nolan Roed netted his second goal of the postseason less than three minutes into Wednesday’s game to give the Storm an early lead in the battle. Vladislav Lukashevich and August Falloon each collected an assist on the scoring play. Nick Roukounakis scored his first goal of the playoffs at 6:02 of the 1st period to increase Tri-City’s lead to two goals. Shaun McEwen notched an assist on the scoring play. Artemi Nizameyev scored his first goal of the game, and first goal of the playoffs, at 9:23 of Wednesday’s opening period to give Tri-City a three-goal lead in the matchup. August Falloon recorded an assist on the scoring play. The Stampede ended the Storm’s run of three unanswered goals to open the game at 14:35 of the 1st period on a goal scored by Hunter Anderson. Anderson netted the game-winning goal on the powerplay in overtime of Monday’s game, and his scoring play Wednesday night was his second of the playoffs. Zach Nehring and Noah Eyre each notched an assist on the scoring play. The final goal of Wednesday’s opening period was netted by Artemi Nizameyev with less than five minutes to play. The goal was scored twenty-six seconds after the Stampede’s opening scoring play of the contest. Nizameyev’s goal was his second of the game, and second of the opening round postseason series. Tri-City outshot Sioux Falls 16-12 in the 1st period, and carried a 4-1 advantage into Wednesday's middle period.
Artemi Nizameyev scored his third goal of the night at 5:59 of the 2nd period to give Tri-City a 5-1 lead in the battle. The scoring play gave Nizameyev a hat trick, the fourth postseason hat trick in franchise history. The Storm’s Owen Beckner netted a powerplay goal at 7:28 of the 2nd period to increase Tri-City’s lead to 6-1. Beckner’s goal was his second of the playoffs, after he netted his first goal of the playoffs in overtime of Game #2 of Tuesday night to give the Storm a victory. Hunter Anderson responded for the Stampede by netting his second of the game, and third goal of the postseason at 10:04 of the 2nd period. The goal was scored on the powerplay, and was assisted by Matthew Grimes. Owen Beckner scored his second goal of the contest, and third goal of the series with less than six minutes to play in the 2nd period to give Tri-City another five-goal advantage in the contest. The goal was assisted by Shaun McEwen and Vladislav Lukashevich. The Stampede’s final goal of the night was a power play goal netted by J.J. Wiebusch at 18:27 of the period. The goal was his first of the postseason, and was assisted by Chris Pelosi and Jaksen Panzer. Tri-City was outshot 11-6 in the 2nd period, but carried a four-goal advantage into Wednesday's 3rd period.
The final goal of the Storm’s opening round series against the Stampede was netted by Nolan Roed at 10:33 of the 3rd period. Roed also scored Tri-City’s first goal of the series during the 1st period of Monday’s 6-5 overtime loss. Cam Briere recorded an assist on the scoring play. The Storm outshot the Stampede 8-5 in the 3rd period, and 30-28 overall during the game. Tri-City won the game by a final score of 8-3, and captured two of the three games to win the series.
Cameron Korpi made 25 saves on 28 shots to record the win in net for Tri-City. Christian Manz stopped 13 of 19 shots faced, and dropped the game in net for Sioux Falls. Manz was replaced in goal by Michael Chambre following the Storm’s sixth scoring play of the night. Chambre finished the game by making 9 saves on 11 shots.
Tri-City finished the matchup 1/6 on the powerplay, and 6/8 on the penalty kill. Artemi Nizameyev’s hat trick earned him 1st Star honors with teammates Owen Beckner and Nolan Roed collecting 2nd and 3rd Star honors, respectively.
Season Tickets to the Storm’s 25th Anniversary Season are on sale now and can be purchased by contacting a member of the Storm Sales Staff at 308-338-8144. Pricing, and the Season Ticket Order Form for the 2024-2025 season, can be found online at https://stormhockey.com/sports/2022/8/19/season-tickets.aspx.
The Storm hits the ice again on Saturday, April 20th, in a playoff game at Scheels Arena against the Fargo Force. Puck drop for the matchup is set for 6:05pm CT. Skate to www.StormHockey.com for playoff tickets and more information regarding the Tri-City Storm organization. The Tri-City Storm is presented by Viaero Wireless.