Men's Ice Hockey 2/17/2024 12:38:00 AM Joel Norman

COPELAND'S POWER-PLAY GOAL DELIVER STARS' FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN

EARNED FIRST WIN WHEN TRAILING AFTER TWO PERIODS

Juan Copeland broke a 2-2 tie with his fifth goal of the season and the Lincoln Stars defeated the Sioux City Musketeers, 4-2, on Friday night at the Ice Box.

Copeland helped Lincoln (19-19-0-2) earn its fifth consecutive victory by swatting home a rebound after Matthew Maltais tried to tuck the puck in near-corner side. The loose puck found Copeland at the base of the left-wing circle and he one-touched it in.

"I think we were just working hard all day," Copeland said. "We didn't plat the first two periods the way that we wanted to, so coming on in the third to win helped a lot. We just played simple and got it around the forecheck."

Blake Montgomery scored twice to record his team-leading fourth multi-goal game of the season. He tied the game after Adam Kleber forced a turnover in the neutral zone and found Montgomery left side. Montgomery glided ahead and fired a wrist shot a few steps away from the left hash to even the game up at the 6:37 mark of the third.

Friday's win marked the Stars' first when trailing after two periods. Tate Pritchard scored the first goal of the game by cutting to the net from the blue line and scoring 5:38 into the game. Ryan Spinale scored for a third consecutive game 4:44 into the second by poking home the rebound off Montgomery's initial shot to tie the game. That lasted 1:24 before Justin Stupka gave Sioux City (25-13-6-0) their second and final lead of the night.

Lincoln has now won five consecutive games for the first time this season and is a game away from five consecutive home wins for the first time since winning six straight Oct. 8 - Nov. 23, 2022. Copeland's power-play goal ensured that the Stars cashed in on the man advantage for a fifth consecutive game, a season high.

"We finished our routes to the net and we did a good job of winning some puck battles extending some possessions," head coach Rocky Russo said. "Our breakout and our entry were really good."

The Stars look to stretch their winning streak to six games on Saturday night when they travel to the Tyson Events Center to face the Musketeers at 6:05. Lincoln wraps up the weekend at home Sunday night against Dubuque at 5:05 at the Ice Box. Tickets can be purchased at lincolnstars.com.

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