Sioux Falls, S.D. – The Sioux Falls Stampede defeated the Chicago Steel for the second consecutive night, securing another weekend sweep. After a slow start, leading scorer
Ethan Wyttenbach put the Herd on the board, while
Javon Moore continued his dominant weekend performance. Forward
Adyn Merrick notched his first goal of the season to seal the victory. Goaltender
Aiden Wright delivered a stellar performance in net, making 34 saves in his fifth start in just eight days.
The Stampede started slowly for the second night in a row, taking a penalty just 2:49 into the first period. Leading scorer
Ethan Wyttenbach was assessed a two-minute boarding minor and a 10-minute misconduct. The Herd successfully killed the penalty to keep the game scoreless. Later in the period, Sioux Falls faced another challenge when
Noah Urness was called for boarding, but the penalty-kill unit once again held firm. The first period ended with no score on the board.
The second period saw a flurry of penalties from both teams. At 3:36, Chicago's Hudon Gorski received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for head contact. Despite the extended power-play opportunity, the Herd struggled to capitalize. Later in the period, the Stampede went on another power play at 15:21. Just 30 seconds in,
Ethan Wyttenbach capitalized on a rebound off the end boards, scoring his 11th goal of the season to give the Herd a 1-0 lead. Before the period ended, Sioux Falls took their fifth penalty of the game. The Steel outshot the Herd 14-7 in the period, but Sioux Falls maintained their narrow lead heading into the third.
The Stampede began the third period by killing off the remainder of
Ben Wilmott's hooking penalty, followed by a 5-on-3 disadvantage. Once back to full strength, the Herd added to their lead.
Javon Moore scored his third goal of the weekend on a neutral-zone takeaway, sliding the puck five-hole past Steel goaltender Luka Cloutier. Less than a minute later,
Adyn Merrick tallied his first goal of the season. A backward pass from
Jake Merens set Merrick up with a clear lane, and he didn't miss, putting the Stampede up 3-0.
Chicago responded quickly, with their first goal of the night coming at 13:32, followed by a second from former Stampede forward
Ashton Schultz at 15:35. The back-to-back goals tightened the game, but Sioux Falls held on despite Chicago pulling their goaltender in the final minute.
Despite being outshot 36-21, the Stampede secured the 3-2 win and now boast a 21-6-2 record.
Aiden Wright was a standout in net, making 34 saves with a .944 save percentage on the night. His record improves to 13-3-1, with an overall save percentage of .910.
The Stampede return to action next weekend at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, where they'll face the Madison Capitols from the Eastern Conference. Friday night is Hockey Moms Night, celebrating the contributions of hockey moms in the community with a free raffle for all moms in attendance. Saturday marks Hockey Day South Dakota, beginning at 10:00 a.m. with youth games throughout the day. Before the 6:05 p.m. puck drop, fans can collect the second set of 2024-25 trading cards, courtesy of Midwestern Mechanical.
Tickets for both games are available
here.
