Doug Grimes scored the game's first goal late in the first period but the Lincoln Stars fell to the Des Moines Buccaneers, 3-1, on Saturday night at Buccaneer Arena.
Grimes's 11th of the season on a wrist shot off a feed from Daniel Sambuco behind the goal put Lincoln (20-13-1) up 1-0 after the first period but it would be the Stars' only lead of the night. Des Moines (13-6-4-3) scored its first two goals on rebound opportunities for before tallying an empty netter with eight seconds left.
The Stars had a sustained attack going late in the third period but a turnover at the Buccaneers' blue line gave Des Moines a two-on-one rush the other way. Boston Buckberger poked the puck away from Michael Bevilacqua, but Henry Bartle, skating just behind, recovered the puck and fired a shot. Stars netminder Cameron Whitehead made the stop but the rebound came right to Bevilacqua, who had drifted near-post side, and he potted the rebound to give the Buccaneers their first lead of the night with 14 seconds left in the game.
The Stars emptied their net after a timeout and Jack Reimann scored after forcing a turnover at the blue line.
Bartle scored the Buccaneers's first goal when Alex Pineau's shot from the blue line was denied by Whitehead but Bartle corralled the rebound and stuffed it home at the 3:40 mark of the second period.
The Stars return home to the Ice Box on Friday looking to snap their four-game losing streak. Lincoln hosts the Sioux Falls Stampede at 7:05 before then hosting the Sioux City Musketeers on Saturday at 6:05. Purchase tickets for both game and you'll receive a half-price value of $16 if purchased here.
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