EASTERN CONFERENCE RACE IS HEATING UP…ICE IS 11-5-2 AT HOME THIS YEAR

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE                                               SEASON RECORD 23-10-5

Friday, Feb. 10 CHICAGO (Bankers Life Fieldhouse) 7:05 pm
Saturday, Feb. 11 MUSKEGON 7:05 pm

ALL HOME GAMES AT PEPSI COLISEUM UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

GAMES WILL BE AIRED ON USHL.FASTHOCKEY.COM.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The Ice is scheduled to practice Tuesday and Thursday from 2:45-4:45 pm and Wednesday from 2:45-4:15 pm at Pepsi Coliseum.

CONFERENCE CLASHES:  The Ice split a pair of weekend road games against two of the top teams in the USHL in conference rivals Green Bay and Dubuque.  Daniil Tarasov’s goal just :36 seconds into overtime lifted Indy to a 3-2 victory over Green Bay on Friday which was the fifth point of the night for the line of Tarasov (G, A), Sean Kuraly (G, A) and Kirill Lebedev (G).  Jon Gillies was sharp in net with 24 saves.  A rough second period doomed the Ice on Saturday as Dubuque stormed out of the first intermission with five second period markers in route to a 6-1 win.  Robert Polesello had the lone tally for Indiana.  

EASTERN BLOC:  The Eastern Conference race is heating up as just two points separate second and fourth place.  Green Bay enters the week in first with 60 points, while the Ice (51 pts), Dubuque (49 pts) and Youngstown (49 pts) round out second to fourth place. 

PTH HISTORY:  The Ice is 3-4-0 in the USHL all-time on “Pack the House for Charity” night and 1-0-1 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season.  Indiana fell to Dubuque 5-4 in last year’s version as John Gaudreau and Zemgus Girgensons combined for six points (2G, 4A) for the victorious Saints.  The line of Blake Coleman-Miami, Brian Ferlin-Cornell and Daniil Tarasov were just as lethal for the Ice as the trio amassed eight points (2G, 6A) in defeat.

RYAN’S SONG:  With two helpers over the weekend, Ryan Obuchowski became the league leader among USHL defensemen in assists with 20 entering this week’s action.  The second-year Ice blueliner is also tied for third overall in scoring (23 pts) to go along with a (+14) plus/minus.

TEAM FILES:  Daniil Tarasov is second in the USHL in points (50) and goals (25) and first in game-winning goals (6)…Sean Kuraly is tied for fourth in the league in goals (23) and power play goals (8)…Jon Gillies is first among USHL goaltenders in wins (20) and save percentage (.921)…Woody Hudson is first in the league in major penalties (8)…The Ice remains first at home (30.2%), on the road (28.2%) and overall (29.1%) on the power play…The Ice is 17-1-1 when scoring first.

COLLEGE CHEER:  Torey Krug (08-09) erupted for five points (2G, 3A) for Michigan State in a weekend sweep of Ohio State…Casey DeSmith (09-11) stopped 71 of 74 shots and posted two wins for UNH in a weekend sweep of Providence…David Johnstone (09-11) recorded four points (G, 3A) in two games for Michigan Tech last weekend…Nic Dowd (09-10) tallied three points (2G, A) for St. Cloud in a weekend sweep of Wisconsin.