5-0!

The Indiana Ice continued their franchise-best season start with a convincing 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Storm on the road tonight.

The Ice are now 5-0-0 on the season heading into tonight's game at Lincoln. Remarkably, four of the five games have been on the road. Lincoln fell to Sioux Falls 2-1 tonight.

A 3-0 lead after two periods had been whittled down to one midway through the third, and the Ice having to kill off a 5-on-3 for nearly a full minute after penalties to Alex Barron and Ryan Obuchowski. Yet, the Ice stood tall on the kill and responded with three goals in a 97-second span in the final five minutes to pull away. Emil Romig, Daniil Tarasov and Drew Smolczynski scored in that stretch to put the game on ice.

It was a big scoring night for several Icemen. Romig scored two goals -- also cashing in on a feed from Robert Polosello with 57 seconds left in the second to make it 3-0. Robbie Baillargeon had three assists -- on Tarasov and Smolczynski's goals late in the game, and also on Sean Kuraly's power play goal at 7:12 of the first that gave the Ice a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Kuraly had a goal and an assist, as did Tarasov. Alex Barron had the Ice's second goal early in the second.

Barron was also a +3 on the night.

Jon Gillies made 30 saves for the victory, his fourth of the season between the pipes.

The Ice's PK unit had some work tonight, going 5-for-6. The Ice's potent power play remained so, cashing in on one of three chances.

Three stars
1. Emil Romig (Ice): 2 goals, 3 shots, +2
2. Robbie Baillargeon (Ice), 3 assists, +2, 2 shots
3. Adam Chilapak (TC) goal, +1, 5 shots 

Next up for the Ice: at Lincoln Saturday night, then 2 at home vs. Waterloo next weekend Friday/Saturday.

USHL boxscore

Tonight's game: Ice at Tri-City

The Indiana Ice take their league-best (and franchise-record) 4-0-0 start into Nebraska this weekend, facing the Tri-City Storm tonight and the Lincoln Stars on Saturday. This matchup pits the Ice against a pair of Western Division foes -- a division the Ice have generally fared well against. Tri-City is currently 2-2 coming into tonight's game. The Ice have had no problem scoring goals -- at 5 goals per game, they are the USHL's top-scoring team. They're also the top PP team. Meanwhile, Tri-City is scoring just 1.5 gpg, but allowing just 2.0 gpg. Special teams could play a big factor -- The Ice are 9-for-20 with the man advantage, Tri-City 0-for-20. Tri-City goaltender Phoenix Copley has two shutouts this season.


Tonight's game
Indiana Ice (4-0-0)
at
Tri-City Storm (2-2-0) 
8:05 p.m., Viaero Events Center, Kearney, Neb.

Broadcast: ushl.fasthockey.com

Season series: First meeting


Tale of the Tape
Ice (4-0-0)
Head coach: Kyle Wallack
GF: 22 (2nd). GA: 11 (t4th)
PP: 45.0% (1st). PK: 85.7% (9th)
Road record: 3-0-0
Leading scorers: Daniil Tarasov (4-5-9), Sean Kuraly (2-6-8), Cody Bradley (2-4-6), Alex Barron (0-6-6),
Leading +/-: Alex Barron (+5)
Leading PIM: R.J. Boyd (21), Joe Fiala (14)
Leading goaltender: Jon Gillies (3-0-0, 2.30 GAA, .914sv%), Dalton Izyk (1-0-0, 4.00 GAA, .857 sv%)

Storm (2-2-0)
Head coach: Drew Schoeneck
GF: 6 (15th). GA: 8 (t2nd)
PP: 0.0% (16th). PK: 88.2% (8th)
Home record: 2-0-0
Leading scorers: Nick Lappin (3-1-4), Michael Vecchione (1-1-2), Thomas Nykopp (1-1-2), Tyler Amburgey (0-2-2)
Leading +/-: Nick Lappin (+4), Thomas Nykopp (+3), Kenny Brooks (+3)
Leading PIM: Bryan Sinz (16)
Leading goaltender: Phoenix Copley (2-2-0, 2.03 GAA, 2 shutouts, .921 sv%)

Ice next 3 weekends
F 10/21: at Tri-City
Sa 10/22: at Lincoln
F 10/28: WATERLOO
Sa 10/29: WATERLOO
F 11/4: CEDAR RAPIDS
Sa 11/5: at Youngstown