SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—The Sioux Falls Stampede earned another tally in the win column on Friday evening, with a 5-2 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers.

A back-and-forth first and second period kept the matchup close after 40 minutes of play. The Stampede marked three goals, two in the first period and one in the second, and the Buccaneers marking two, one in each period.

Sam Harris started the scoreboards up with a shot, set up by Maddox Fleming, at the 4:23 mark in the first. Just over ten minutes later, Des Moines marked their first goal, tying the game at one. Isaac Gordon then found the back of the net, off passes from Chris Pelosi and Evan Murr, for the Stampede's second goal of the game, putting the team up, 2-1, heading into the first intermission.

The second period saw similar back-and-forth scoring, with the Buccaneers tallying the first goal of the period with eight minutes and 43 seconds off of the clock. Murr, who marked the third star of the game accolade, earned the Stampede's game-winning-goal with just three minutes and two seconds left in the second period, assisted by Clint Levens and Ryan Gordon. 

Period three was all blue and gold, the Stampede scoring two unanswered goals to increase their lead. Chris Pelosi found the net off an assist from Isaac Gordon, the night's first star of the game, just three minutes and 30 seconds into the period. Nick Ring went on to drive the scoring home on a goal with just under nine minutes left to play. Ring was assisted by Maddox Fleming and Maxim Strbak, who was back for his first game since playing in the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for Team Slovakia.

Xavier Medina tallied his seventh win of the season in net for the Herd. Medina stopped 24-of-26 shots on net, marking a .923 save percentage. He is now 7-5-2 with the Stampede this season and holds a save percentage of .914. Medina marks a 2.87 goals against average with 403 saves and 38 goals allowed in his 14 games.

The team now swaps locations and will play in Des Moines on Saturday evening. They will then head back to the Denny Sanford Premier Center on Sunday, Jan. 8 for a game against interstate 29 rival, the Sioux City Musketeers, at 4:05 p.m.