Ice defeat U18s, extend streak to 11 + roster moves

Led by Daniil Tarasov's two goals and a goal and an assist from Tyler Pham, the Ice extended their unbeaten streak to 11 straight games (and their winning streak to six straight) with a 4-3 victory over the U.S. National Team Development Program U18 squad Friday at the Pepsi Coliseum.

For Tarasov, his two-goal game gave him 20 goals for the year, second-best in the USHL behind Lincoln's Kevin Roy (26). With 42 points, Tarasov is also second to Roy in that category.

Pham's night marked his second two-point game of his young USHL career. He also had a goal and an assist on Dec. 17 against Chicago, a 6-2 Ice victory. The team's top pick in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft, Pham now has two goals and five assists.

Christian Hilbrich -- fresh off his commitment to Cornell -- also scored a goal for the Ice, who built a 4-1 lead with three second-period goals.

Team USA started the scoring just 96 seconds in, on a goal by highly-touted defenseman Jacob Truba. Tarasov tied the game with 2:28 left in the period on the power play -- the Ice were 1-for-2 with the man advantage.

Things exploded in the second. Pham scored unassisted just 44 seconds in to give the Ice the lead. Tarasov buried a feed from Robert Polosello just 1:08 later. Then, a minute after the USA switched goaltenders, Pham and Drew Smolcynski set up Hilbrich's game-winner at 13:42 of the second.

The Ice's three goals came on just six shots. Starter Collin Olson allowed three goals on 15 shots, but only stopped two of the four shots he faced in the period. Backup Jared Rutledge came in midway through the period and allowed Hilbrich's game-winner a minute later. He would stop nine of 10.

It became the game-winner because Team USA's Miles Koules scored with 2:41 left in the second, and Matthew Lane scored with 2:38 left in the third. Trouba assisted on both goals.

Jon Gillies made 31 saves for the Ice.

The Ice are now 20-7-4 as they begin the second half of the season, and remain seven points back of first-place Green Bay. They are off until next weekend, when they visit Chicago on Friday and Dubuque on Saturday.

Roster notes: Sean Kuraly returned to the lineup tonight after missing both games last weekend. He was scoreless and a minus-1. Jose Delgadillo, acquired earlier in the week from Sioux City in exchange for Alexander Kuqali, made his Ice debut. ... He wore No. 2 and was a plus-1. ... Ryan Cole has been dealt to Amarillo in the Tier II NAHL. Cole had been acquired from Lincoln earlier in the season for future considerations and had two goals and two assists in 10 games. ... The Ice have also added Russian forward Kirill Lebedev to the roster. He will wear number 91. He is from Magnitogorsk, Russia, and is currently 20, so he is in his lone year of USHL eligibility.

Three stars
1. Daniil Tarasov (Ice), 2 goals, 6 shots, +2
2. Tyler Pham (Ice), goal, assist, 2 shots, +2
3. Ryan Obuchowski (Ice), assist, +2

USHL boxscore

USA wins bronze in Junior A Challenge

The United States won the bronze medal in the World Junior A Challenge Saturday night, beating Sweden 3-0 in Langley, B.C.

The Ice's Sean Kuraly -- who came into the night tied for the tournament scoring lead -- assisted on Mario Lucia's first-period goal that turned out to be the game-winner.

Kuraly finished the five tournament games with three goals and two assists. Austin Cangelosi and Tony Camaranesi also scored for the United States, a team made up of USHL players. Canada East and Canada West will play for the gold Sunday.

These players will return to their USHL teams next week after wearing the red, white and blue of their country.

Kuraly, Team USA fall in WJAC semis

The United States fell 4-2 to Canada East in the World Junior A Challenge semifinals Friday in Langley, B.C.

The Ice's Sean Kuraly had an assist in the game, feeding Green Bay's Andy Welinski for a goal in the third period that cut the Canadians' lead to 3-2, but Canada East added another goal.

With three goals and an assist, Kuraly and teammate Mario Lucia are tied for the scoring lead in the entire tournament. 

The United States will play Sweden at 10:30 p.m. Saturday for the bronze medal. The two Canadian teams will face each other for the gold Sunday afternoon.

Tonight's game: Home opener: Ice vs. Team USA

The Ice play the USNDTP U17 for the third of three consecutive games tonight, and it's the home opener at Pepsi Coliseum. Cody Bradley's five-point effort last weekend against the U17s was enough to earn him USHL Offenisve Player of the Week honors. The puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Coliseum tonight.

The U17 team has a couple of familiar faces -- or names. Leading scorer Tyler Kelleher was drafted by the Ice earlier this year but opted to join the national team development program instead. New head coach Danton Cole is a former Indianapolis Ice player, suiting up for 32 games in 1995-96. The Ice's power play has been the envy of the USHL so far. We'll see if they can extend their best-in-team-history 3-0 start tonight!

Tonight's game
USNDTP U17 (1-2-1)
at

Indiana Ice (3-0-0) 
7 p.m., Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis.


Broadcast: ushl.fasthockey.com

Season series: Ice 2, USA 0 (vs. U17 ice 2-0)
Oct. 8 (at Ann Arbor): Ice 7, USA 4: Ice score five straight to erase early 3-2 deficit. Cody Bradley G/2A, Sean Kuraly, Robert Gawron, Robert Polosello G/A each. Dalton Izyk 24 saves in goal for W. Hudson Fasching G/A for USA.
Oct. 7 (at Ann Arbor): Ice 5, USA 3: The Ice score 3 in the 3rd to win. Robert Polosello 2G, Sean Kuraly G/A for Ice. Indy 3-5 on PP. Tyler Kelleher G/A for USA. Jon Gillies W in goal.


Tale of the Tape
Ice (3-0-0)
Head coach: Kyle Wallack
GF: 16 (t2nd). GA: 10 (t7th)
PP: 46.1% (1st). PK: 80.0% (11th)
Home record: 0-0-0
Leading scorers: Daniil Tarasov (2-4-6), Cody Bradley (2-4-6), Robert Polosello (4-1-5), Sean Kuraly (2-3-5), Alex Barron (0-4-4),
Leading +/-: Cody Bradley (+4), Christian Hilbrich (+4), Robert Polosello (+4), Alex Barron (+4)
Leading PIM: R.J. Boyd (19), Joe Fiala (14)
Leading goaltender: Jon Gillies (2-0-0, 2.93 GAA, .905sv%), Dalton Izyk (1-0-0, 4.00 GAA, .857 sv%)

Team USA (1-2-1)
Head coach: Danton Cole
GF: 19 (1st). GA: 18 (16th)
PP: 28.0% (3rd). PK: 70.0% (t13th)
Road record: 0-0-0
Leading scorers: Tyler Kelleher (4-1-5), Luke Voltin (2-3-5), J.T. Compher (3-1-4), Hudson Fasching (1-3-4), Tyler Motte (1-3-4), Michael McCarron (0-4-4), Anthony Louis (3-0-0)
Leading +/-: Connor Chatham (+3), Luke Voltin (+3)
Leading PIM: Scott Savage (10), Steven Santini (8)
Leading goaltender: Hunter Miska (1-1-0, 4.00 GAA, .846 sv%), Curtis Frye (0-1-1, 4.32 GAA, .866 sv%).