Takeaways from all four Clark Cup Playoff games around the USHL on Saturday
A jam-packed slate of 2024 USHL Clark Cup Playoff games saw Sioux City take a 2-0 series lead while Youngstown, Green Bay, and Fargo earned Game 1 victories on Saturday.
The Musketeers scored three times, and Samuel Urban allowed one goal on 31 shots in their Game 2 win over Lincoln. Fargo outshot Tri-City 40-24 in its Game 1 win.
Five skaters recorded multi-point efforts in Green Bay's win over Muskegon. Youngstown shutout top-seeded Dubuque.
Let's go to our key takeaways from Saturday's games.
Wright Choice
Youngstown goaltender Aiden Wright stopped all 28 shots in the Phantoms' 2-0 victory over No. 1-seed Dubuque.
Wright recorded just the third postseason shutout in franchise history, joining Jacob Fowler (2022) and Ivan Prosvetov (2018).
Andrew Strathmann opened the scoring at 2:41 into the second period on a breakaway. Charlie Cerrato doubled up Youngstown's lead in the third period.
The Phantoms went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Musketeers Head Home With 2-0 Lead
With the Abu Bekr Shrine Circus in town this weekend, the No. 2-seed Sioux City Musketeers were forced to begin their playoff series against No. 6-seed Lincoln on the road.
However, Sioux City did not seem to mind, jumping out to a two-goal lead early in the second period. Kaden Shahan opened the scoring at 10:42 in the first period before Hagen Burrows buried a rebound in front just over five minutes into the second frame.
Lincoln's Matt Maltais scored his second postseason goal, but Ty Hanson restored Sioux City's two-goal lead with a power-play goal late in regulation.
LaStarza Scores Twice For Fargo
Fargo Force forward Michael LaStarza scored twice in the team's 3-1 win over Tri-City. Zam Plante opened the scoring at 6:50 into the first period before LaStarza tallied his first via the power play late in the frame.
The Storm closed the gap on Ryan Smith's first postseason goal at 14:14 in the second period. However, LaStarza put the Force back up by two goals with another power-play goal early in the final frame.
Fargo netminder Hampton Slukynsky turned aside 23 of 24 shots on goal.
Green Bay Holds On To Road Victory
Despite being outshot 29-18, the Green Bay Gamblers saw five different players record multi-point efforts in the team's 4-3 win over Muskegon.
Jayson Shaugabay led all skaters with two goals, while Blake Bechen, Libor Nemec, Ryan Humphrey, and Charlie Russell also tallied two points.
After going up 2-0 on goals from Bechen and Russell, Muskegon responded with two goals. However, Shaugabay's first of the night proved to be the game-winner, and Green Bay hung on.
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