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The Cheyenne Stampede swept the
Salt Lake City Moose in the final three game home series of the season over
Jan. 25-27. The Stampede started the weekend by shutting out the Moose 2-0, and
then went on to win the 6-5 wide open style game Saturday night, before sealing
the sweep with a 4-2 victory on Sunday.
The Cheyenne Stampede opened
their three game home series with a 2-0 win against the Salt Lake City Moose on
Jan. 25. The game was not only the first game of the weekend for the Stampede
though, it was also the first hockey game Wyoming Governor Matt Mead had ever
attended. The 32nd Governor of Wyoming arrived to the game early,
just after the warm up and met all of the players, and gave a bit of a pre-game
speech. He told the team that he wanted them to play well, before going player
to player and shaking all of their hands. He said that seeing them get suited
up brought back memories of his own high school and college football days. "I
love the competitive atmosphere" he said. The Governor also did the ceremonial
puck drop to start the game.
The game's first period passed
scoreless, as the game quickly turned into a dual between goaltenders. Sam
Mallory for the Stampede stood tall throughout the game, shutting out the
Moose, stopping all 35 shots. The Stampede got on the board just 42 seconds
into the second period, when Russell Armbruster scored the go ahead goal. Ryan
Carroll had the assist on the play, and would finish the game with two points,
as he scored the empty netter at the end of the game to give the Stampede the
2-0 lead.
The Cheyenne Stampede followed up
their Friday night victory with a 6-5 win Saturday Jan. 26. The Stampede were
first to get on the board when Tyler Elkins passed the puck to Noah Eckebrecht,
who set up Ryan Demyen for the first goal of the night. Former Stampede players
Brandon Luke and Wayne Hoffman teamed up for the tying goal by Salt Lake. The
Moose netted another goal on a shorthanded attempt to take a 2-1 lead. On a
powerplay late in the period though, Heath Lantz jammed a puck in for Stampede
following a play in which Trevor Zakrajsek and Eckebrecht moved the puck around
to Lantz. Salt Lake managed to take the lead again though in the final minutes
of the first period. The Stampede again tied the game in the second period when
Eckebrecht scored the lone goal of the period following an assist from Kevin
Rosset. The first ten minutes of the third period showcased an aggressive
Stampede, as both Kevin Rosset and Ryan Demyen scored powerplay goals. Rosset
then went on a tear and scored an unassisted shorthanded goal, in which he
dangled through the offensive zone and put the puck past the goaltender. Salt
Lake managed to score twice more, but were unable to get the equalizer as the
Stampede won 6-5.
The stage was set for a final
showdown on Sunday, Jan. 27, and the teams did not disappoint. Both teams came
out flying and played an aggressive style. This resulted in a scoreless first
period, with both goaltenders playing strong in net. Salt Lake City opened the
scoring just under a minute into the second period though to take a 1-0 lead.
The Stampede converted on a powerplay, when Dominick Manochio let a blast go
from the point, that was deflected by Dorran Masters in front of the net.
Russell Armbruster also had an assist on the play. Late in the period, the
Stampede converted with the extra man again, as Demyen moved the puck to Heath
Lantz, who then deflected the puck across the crease to Rosset who hammered the
puck home from the doorstep. In the third period, Noah Eckebrecht scored to
give Cheyenne a 3-1 lead. Rosset and Demyen had the assists on the goal. The
Moose managed to score just 24 seconds later, but Cheyenne withstood a
concerted effort and managed to score the empty netter when Eckebrecht threaded
a pass through the neutral zone to Rosset, who then scored on the empty goal.
The Stampede will next head to El
Paso on Jan. 27, the beginning of a long series of road games. The Stampede
will next play at home against the Boulder Bison on Feb. 9.
For more details about the Cheyenne Stampede, please visit our
website: www.CheyenneStampede.com or find us on Face book at:http://www.facebook.com/StampedeHockey or follow our Tweets
(@stampshockey)
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