CHICAGO, IL — We all know the USHL season is long, and the first game of the season may not be a reliable indicator of the next 61, but it certainly feels like the Sioux Falls Stampede are picking up where they left off last season, with a win against the Eastern Conference runners up in the Madison Capitols. With that said, and despite a 3-2 final score, the Herd will want to focus on what went right in the first period and how to correct what didn't work in the second.
The Stampede came out strong in the first period, with rookie tender Dylan Delgado sending a pass to veteran defenseman Noah Mannausau, who took a shot from the blue line to put the Herd on the board 2:31 into the game. Not too long after, at 6:46 of the first period, Gavin Clark would pick up his first goal in the USHL, with Vojtech Švancar and Tim Tuzin both getting assists for their first career points as well. Tuzin wouldn't be done with his scoring there, picking up the game-winning goal 19:35 into the game, with Pavel Martinu picking up his first point as a member of the Herd. Both the Stampede and Capitols would take three penalties each in the opening frame, with neither team scoring on the power play.
Period two saw Madison score twice, with Daniel Halonen and Michal Jakubec both getting their first USHL goals at 2:37 and 14:31, respectively.
Rounding out the game in the third period, Madison's Will Dosan would be awarded a penalty shot, but Sioux Falls affiliate goaltender Ilya Nikitins would prove up to the task in net. Picking up the win in his first USHL game, Nikitins stopped 32-of-34 Capitols shots on top of the denied penalty shot. On the other end of the ice, Cash Cruitt made sure the Capitols had a fighting chance, stopping 27-of-30 shots from the Stampede in the loss.
The Sioux Falls Stampede are back in action tomorrow afternoon, with a 12 PM CT puck drop against the USNTDP U18s to close out their action at the USHL Fall Classic at USG Arena in Chicago. The game will be available to stream on FloHockey with a paid subscription and on FloHockey's YouTube channel. KELO broadcasts will not be available for games at the Fall Classic, and will instead begin next week for the Stampede's road games against the Lincoln Stars.
