Wings drub Stars again

TC’s 2-1 lead evaporates in second period

BOX SCORE

KALAMAZOO – The Traverse City North Stars’ backs are against the proverbial playoff wall after Kalamazoo took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five NAHL North Division series on Saturday afternoon at Wings West Arena, pounding the Stars by a 7-3 margin after claiming the opener 4-0.

“Every time we made a mistake, they made us pay for it,” said Stars head coach Chad Fournier. “We played a lot better today at times, but now it’s do-or-die. We have to come out and work hard, and get the next one, then if we do that then we can worry about next Saturday, and so on.”

On Saturday, it was Traverse City that got out of the blocks quickly, as Sean Murphy (Cary, NC/Tri-City USHL)gave the visitors the lead just 1:15 into the contest on an unassisted marker. After Kalamazoo evened things up, Murphy connected with Nathan Harris (Fowlerville, MI/Lansing Capitals U18)on a deke-and-dunk pass that Harris drove into the net at the far post.

The 2-1 first intermission lead would be TC’s last, however, as the K-Wings rattled off four second period goals – sandwiched around an Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars NAHL)tally – to jump ahead 5-3 after two frames.  Kalamazoo would add a pair of scores in the third to claim the blowout and command of the series.

“We came out and showed a lot of heart in that first period,” Fournier continued. “Obviously, we got a little loose in the second.  We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes and they scored on every one of them. The third – I’m not sure if we were tired or what, but they looked a lot more like a team that wanted to close it out than we looked like a team that was trying to come back.”

The Stars were outshot 31-29, enjoyed just a pair of power plays, and surrendered two goals to the Wings’ power play unit.  Among the few bright spots was the pugilistic prowess of Alexander Taulien (Crystal Lake, IL/TC North Stars NAHL), who blistered Austin Hervey with a series of body shots and uppercuts in a lopsided scrap late in the first period.

Chris Leibinger (Saginaw, MI/TC North Stars NAHL/Michigan Tech)assisted on Murphy’s opening salvo, Chris Waterstreet (Northville, MI/TC North Stars NAHL)keyed the Harris marker with a deft up-the-boards pass after drawing in two defenders, while Harris collected the only assist on Rivard’s lamplighter.

Kyle Laslo (Fenton, MI/Osoyoos KIJHL)made 24 saves as the North Stars allowed a season-high seven goals.

The series shifts to Centre ICE Arena next weekend, as the Stars will have to sweep the Friday-Saturday set and then take a decisive Game 5 in Kalamazoo on April 16 if they hope to advance to the North Division finals.

“I still think we can win this, and I think the guys feel the same way,” Fournier said. “But it isn’t going to be easy. We’re going to have to have the consistent effort and execution that we haven’t had in this series so far.”