Fargo, ND – The Fargo Force were blanked by the Lincoln Stars 3-0 Saturday night at Scheels Arena. Despite outshooting Lincoln 28-27, Stars goaltender Cameron Whitehead was the difference maker, stopping all 28 shots on goal. Lincoln continues their quest for second place in the western conference, with a record of 37-19-3-1 and 78 points. Fargo slips to 38-14-4-4 and 84 points, after clinching the No. 1 seed in the western conference last night. Matej Marinov stopped 24 of 26 shots on goal in the loss. This was only the second time all season the Fargo was shut out at home. The only other time the Force were shut out at Scheels Arena this season was on Oct. 28 vs Sioux City where Fargo lost 4-0.
Lincoln wasted no time and established zone pressure early in the first period. This paid off at the 4:47 mark, as German Yavash rifled the puck over the shoulder of Marinov, giving the Stars a 1-0 lead. Fargo responded with opportunities of their own, the best of which came from Anthony Menghini on a sharp angle shot. Menghini had another quality chance, driving hard on a power move, crashing the net and vaulting over Whitehead. The Force again drove hard to the blue paint, this time Cole Knuble at 15:12. Both teams went 4 on 4 as Lincoln's Cole Crusberg-Roseen and Charlie Russell had a brief scrum, but the extra ice yielded nothing for either team to close out the first period.
Fargo took two penalties to start the second period. The first from Marian Mosko at 1:16 and Jacob Napier at 3:20. Despite killing off the first penalty, Lincoln doubled their advantage to 2-0, courtesy of Crusberg-Roseenon on a point blast at 4:53. Zam Plante had an amazing chance on a feed by Owen Mehlenbacher, but was robbed by Whitehead at 5:24. Immediately afterwards, Plante drew a tripping penalty at 5:49, and a second Lincoln penalty at 7:16 resulted in 33 seconds of 5 on 3 power play time. The Force cycled well, but couldn't generate a goal during their extended man advantage time. Each side attempted to stretch the ice, and Mehlenbacher had a golden opportunity on the doorstep but was sealed off at the post by Whitehead. The back and forth play continued for the later half of the second period with no change in the score.
The Stars bottled up the Force to begin the third period, and Mehlenbacher was called for a slash at 4:10 sending Fargo back to the penalty kill. Brasen Boser had a shorthanded shot that was gloved by Whitehead and sent back into play. The Force went back to the power play at 6:33 on a holding call to Lincoln. Knuble had a chance in tight on Whitehead, redirecting a Plante shot. Despite the flashes of offense, Lincoln's top percentage penalty kill fended off Fargo. Bret Link and Plante had a give and go opportunity, but were again washed out by Whitehead. Marinov was pulled for the extra attacker at 17:15, but Brennan Ali scored in the empty net at 18:34 tripling the Lincoln lead to 3-0.
Fargo looks to bounce back next weekend against the Sioux Falls Stampede. The first of the two games set is at home on Friday, April 21 for Fan Appreciation Night with puck drop at 7:05pm CST. The Force's final regular season game takes place in Sioux Falls starting at 6:05pm CST on Saturday, April 22.
