Weekend game previews: Ice vs. Des Moines

Des Moines Buccaneers (24-21-6, t6th USHL West)

at

Indiana Ice (34-16-4, 3rd USHL East)

7:05 p.m. Friday, March 25 / Pepsi Coliseum 

7:05 p.m. Saturday, March 26 / Pepsi Coliseum 

Head to head (Ice 1, Buccaneers 1).
Jan. 29: Bucs 4, Ice 1 (at Des Moines). Justin Selman (DM) 2G, Dan DeSalvo 2A, Tyler Bruggeman 32 saves. Cody Bradley (Ice) goal.
Feb. 19: Ice 7, Bucs 3 (at Des Moines).Peter Schneider & Blake Coleman 2G each, David Johnstone G,A, Alex Wideman, Nick Mattson, Brandon Russo 2A each. Ice 3 straight goals in last 4:33 to break game open. Jon Gillies (Ice) 29 saves. DaJon Mingo 2G for Des Moines.

Tale of the Tape
Buccaneers
GF: 147 (10th) / GA: 156 (10th) 
PP: 18.3% (5th) / PK: 77.8% (15th) / PIM: 1119 (13th) 
Road record: 11-12-2 
Last 5: 2-1-2 Last 10: 3-4-3 
Leading scorers: Dan DiSalvo (11-24-35), Austin Coldwell (7-25-32), Dajon Mingo (20-9-29), Doug Clifford (15-13-28), Mitch Cain (15-7-22)
Leading goaltender: Michael Shibrowski (19-12-5, 2.70), Tyler Bruggeman (5-9-1, 3.32)
Leading +/-: Connor Kucera (+13)
Leading PIM: Micki Mihalovich (236)

Ice
GF: 210 (1st) / GA: 143 (6th) 
PP: 21.8% (2nd) / PK: 85.6% (7th) / PIM: 826 (4th) 
Home record: 18-8-2 
Last 5: 6-0-0 Last 10: 7-3-0
Leading scorers: Blake Coleman (30-52-83), Daniil Tarasov (31-35-66), Brian Ferlin (24-38-62) 
Leading goaltender: Casey DeSmith (21-10-2, 2.45), Jon Gillies (13-6-2, 2.71) 
Leading +/-: Blake Coleman (+47) 
Leading PIM: Will Aide (126)

The Ice have kept rolling, and this is a game where special teams will be important, as the Ice have the league's second-best power play and Des Moines has the league's second-worst PK. The Ice's offense has been hitting on all cylinders lately, scoring nearly four goals per game, but lately, they've tallied 5.3 goals per game in their six-game winning streak. They exploded for five -- including three in the third period -- in Wednesday's win over Muskegon. The Ice have clinched third in the East and are five points back of second-place Cedar Rapids and six back of first-place Green Bay. Both the Ice and GB have six games left, CR has eight. Des Moines is fighting for its postseason life, as the Bucs are tied with Sioux Falls for the final playoff spot in the West. The Ice have four 20-goal scorers and a fifth that's close, with the line of Coleman-Tarasov-Ferlin the league's most productive. Des Moines has one 20-goal scorer -- Dajon Mingo -- and two more who have tallied 15 goals.