FARGO, ND– The Tri-City Storm dropped the opening game of the team’s Western Conference Semifinal series against the Fargo Force by a final score of 3-1 Saturday night at Scheels Arena. Ryan Smith netted Tri-City’s only goal during the 2nd period of the matchup. The series will resume on Monday with a 7:05pm CT puck drop at Scheels Arena.
Zam Plante gave the Force a one-goal advantage at 6:50 of Saturday’s 1st period. Harper Bentz collected an assist on the scoring play. Michael La Starza scored his first goal of the postseason with under three minutes to play in the 1st period. The goal was netted on the powerplay, and was assisted by Mac Swanson and Michael Quinn. The Storm was outshot by a 15-7 margin during the 1st period, and trailed by two goals entering the 2nd period.
Ryan Smith netted the only goal of the 2nd period to bring Tri-City’s deficit to one goal in the battle. The goal was Smith’s first of the postseason, and was the Storm’s first scoring play of the series. Artemi Nizameyev collected an assist on the scoring play. Fargo outshot Tri-City 17-8 in the 2nd period, and the Storm trailed by one goal entering Saturday’s 3rd period.
The only goal of Saturday’s final period was netted on the powerplay by Michael La Starza at 6:17 of the period. The scoring play was his second of the night, and gave the Force a 3-1 lead in the matchup. Mac Swanson and Leo Gruba each collected an assist on the scoring play. The Storm outshot the Force 9-8 during the 3rd period, but was outshot by an overall margin of 40-24 Saturday night. Tri-City fell by two goals to drop the opening game of the Best-Of-Five series.
Cameron Korpi made 37 saves on 40 shots and dropped the game in net for Tri-City. Hampton Slukynsky won the game in net for Fargo in a 23-save-on-24-shot performance.
