The Lincoln Stars could not overcome a tough opening five minutes and fell to the Tri-City Storm, 5-3, on Saturday night at the Viaero Center.

Tanner Ludtke and Klavs Veinbergs scored 10 seconds apart in the third period to cut the deficit to two. However, the Storm (4-5) never trailed after scoring three goals in the opening 5:01 of the first period.

Keaton Peters also scored his team-high sixth goal of the season for one-of-two Lincoln power-play goals. Saturday marked the fourth time that the Stars (6-3) scored multiple power-play goals in the same game.  

"We made a game that could have gone the wrong direction pretty interesting," Stars head coach Rocky Russo said. "It doesn't get us what we want at the end but for the most part 50 out of the 60 minutes this evening I thought we played pretty good hockey. Unfortunately that is not enough to win a game on the road."  

Tri-City opened up the game with an urgency that eventually helped them snap a five-game losing streak. Nick Roukoinakis struck 36 seconds in before Graham Gamache doubled up the lead on the power play four minutes later and Cam O'Neill added to the lead just 25 seconds later. The Storm, who had scored three goals in each of the first two meetings against the Stars, outshot Lincoln, 12-4, in the opening frame. Saturday marked the second straight game that the Stars were outshot and held scoreless in the first period.

Peters drew the Stars a bit closer with a one timer on the man advantage after a cross-ice feed from Jared Mangan. Peters has scored a goal in four-of-the-last-six games while not going back-to-back games without finding the back of the net. He is three points away from matching his 2021-22 season total, set in 49 games.

Peters' sixth of the year drew the Stars within two goals but the Storm adding a pair of goals in the final five minutes of the second to gain a four-goal advantage. Ludtke cashed in just in front of the crease on a pass from Doug Grimes to give the Stars another power-play goal. Veinbergs followed him up by chipping a puck into the offensive zone, outmuscling the defense and firing a top-shelf wrister past Storm netminder Karlis Mezsargs.

Lincoln has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season and falls into second place in the Western Conference. They return home to the Ice Box on Friday night to face the Omaha Lancers at 7:05 p.m. Tickets, including November 3-Pack packages, can be purchased at lincolnstars.com.

Save time, every time when you use Online Check-in for a great haircut at Great Clips – proud partner of the Lincoln Stars.

Download their app or check-in online at greatclips.com. Great Clips. It's gonna be great.