Caeden Herrington tied the game late in regulation, and the Lincoln Stars picked up the win in the shootout over the Waterloo Black Hawks on Saturday.
Yan Shostak made 24 saves, and Alex Pelletier scored the lone goal in the shootout, as the Lincoln Stars collected the come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Waterloo Black Hawks on Saturday.
Matt Maltais and Jack Pechar found the back of the net in the second period. Caeden Herrington scored a power-play goal with 65 seconds left in regulation.
Shostak turned aside 24 of the 27 shots on goal and was particularly sharp in the shootout, stopping all four of Waterloo's chances. The St. Cloud commit has yielded three or fewer goals in 13 of his 15 appearances this season.
Meanwhile, Brady Peddle opened the scoring for Waterloo in the first period. Kaeden Hawkins and Grady Deering tallied back-to-back power-play goals in the third period.
Prior to Herrington's blast, the Lincoln Stars had gone 0-for-4 on the power play. However, Brock Schultz's kneeing minor penalty sent Lincoln to the man advantage. The Stars emptied their net to give them a 6-on-4 attack and quickly capitalized.
"They executed what we talked about on the bench," Stars head coach Rocky Russo said of the game-tying goal following Lincoln's timeout to set up the play. "The confusion that we created allowed us to get that screen, a big time NHL caliber bomb by (Herrington), and the game's tied."
After going 0-for-3 on the power play on Friday night, Waterloo went 2-for-4 on Saturday, with both conversions coming in the third period. It was the first time that Lincoln had allowed two power-play goals in a game since September 21 against Cedar Rapids.
Peddle opened the scoring late in the first period on a wrister from the top of the point. The goal marked the first of his USHL career, and he now has points in back-to-back games.
Maltais and Pechar tallied goals in the second period to put Lincoln in front 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.
However, Waterloo scored twice in a 2:05 span in the third period to take a 3-2 lead. Hawkins scored on a wrister from the left-wing circle to tie the game. Moments later, Deering cleaned up the loose puck in front of the Lincoln net.
Herrington responded with his team-leading fourth power-play goal and fifth overall to tie the game once again.
In the overtime period, Waterloo's Calvin Vachon made a crucial save on Gio Digiulian, who had a full-on breakaway. In a losing effort, Vachon made 25 saves on 28 shot attempts.
"We had some chances in the overtime. Man, did Calvin Vachon play unbelievable this weekend. That's the best I've ever seen him play this weekend. Far and away," Russo said of Waterloo's goaltender.
In the shootout, Pelletier found the back of the net in the fourth round, before Shostak made the save at the other end to secure the win.