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Game Summary: April 29, 2005- RoughRiders 5 Sioux City 0
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Game Summary: April 29, 2005- RoughRiders 5 Sioux City 0
<P>Alex Stalock made 27 saves on the way to his first career playoff shutout and the host Cedar Rapids RoughRiders rolled to a 5-0 win over the Sioux City Musketeers in the opening game of the Clark Cup finals Friday night.</P>
<P>Five different Riders scored as Cedar Rapids moved in front one game to none in what most observers expect to be a tightly contested series.</P>
<P>Unsurprisingly, Riders coach and general manager Mark Carlson was pleased with his team’s performance.</P>
<P>“I thought we came out and worked extremely hard and obviously we were able to capitalize on our chances,” said Carlson. “I thought we had a lot of guys going in the right direction tonight.”</P>
<P>The Riders broke open the game with three second period goals. Cedar Rapids was already on top 1-0 when Brandon Svendsen ripped a wrist shot past Sioux City goaltender Jimmy Spratt (28 saves) from the top of the right wing circle at 4:33 of the second. </P>
<P>Just one minute and six seconds later, the Jon Grabarek extended the Rider lead to 3-0. Jordan Pietrus sprang Grabarek on a breakaway, and the third year Rider walked in alone to lift a backhander over the sprawling Spratt.</P>
<P>The Riders would strike again late in the second while on the power play. With Justin Abdelkader screening Spratt, Shane Lovdahl wristed the puck in under the cross bar from the left point to make it 4-0 at the 18:57 mark.</P>
<P>The Riders added another power play goal at 6:45 of the third period. With Abdelkader again screening in front, Ted Purcell’s wrister from the high slot sailed past Spratt to give the Riders a 5-0 lead. Ray Eichenlaub was credited with that goal.</P>
<P>Billy Loupee scored the game’s first goal, giving Stalock all the offensive support he would need at 6:57 of the first period. Loupee cut into the goalmouth and whipped a backhander past Spratt on the stick side.</P>
<P>Once the Riders were on top, Stalock never faultered. The first year netminder was at his busiest in the first period, stopping 13 shots in the opening frame.</P>
<P>Carlson was quick to laud Stalock, who lowered his playoff goals against average to 1.12, lifted his save percentage to .968 and improved his record to 5-0 with his flawless performance in game one.</P>
<P>“[Stalock] continues to compete, he loves to compete and he’s having a heck of a lot of fun right now,” said Carlson. “The guys are doing a nice job in front of him.”</P>
<P>The Riders head into the game two of the finals 7-0 in the playoffs, but Carlson is well aware more hard work awaits his club in their quest for the Clark Cup.</P>
<P>“[The Musketeers] are a real good hockey club, there’s no question about that whatsoever,” he said. “We take these things one game at a time and Sunday at 7:05 will be game number 68 for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and that will continue to be our approach.”</P>
<P><A href="http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid=203823" target=_blank>Box Score</A></P> |
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 (Archive on Friday, April 29, 2005)
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