Fargo, ND – The Fargo Force beat the Tri-City Storm Friday night 4-1 in a game that went down to the final minute. The Force outshot the Storm 31-27, and Matej Marinov held the line stopping 25 of 27 shots on goal. Tri-City's goaltender, Cameron Korpi played well stopping 28 of 31 shots on goal, but odd-man rushes and second chances won the day for the Force.
Fargo started out the first period with a couple of power play chances.The first came at 32 seconds off a Tri-City high stick, but the Force put only one shot on goal. The second early man advantage took place after a Storm slashing penalty at 3:28, and resulted in some shorthanded opportunities for Tri-City, including one that sat in the crease before being backhanded out of danger by Mac Swanson. During a face-off at 9:05, the Storm took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Owen Mehlenbacher immediately cashed in for the Force in at 9:17 on a tap in from Swanson for a 1-0 lead. Tri-City got their first power play chance at 12:01, off a Verner Miettinen tripping penalty, but Fargo kept shots to the perimeter and killed off the penalty. The Force continued pounding away offensively but couldn't breach Korpi the rest of the period.
Tri-City came into the second period charged up, controlling the zone for the first couple minutes with a solid cycle. However, Anthony Menghini got behind the defense on a partial break, just barely turned aside by Korpi and this chance seemed to energize Fargo. Miettinen had a chance in tight but it was squeezed between the pads of Korpi. Both teams had rushes up ice, but were sealed off at their opponent's blue lines. The Force got some sustained pressure, with screens in front of the Storm net, but couldn't convert. Mehlenbacher had a golden chance to capitalize off a Tri-City turnover but was stonewalled. A blocked shot in the defensive end sprung Girts Silkalns and Miettinen for a two-on-one which Miettinen put home at 15:51 to double up the score, 2-0. Fargo continued to lay on pressure to end the frame.
The Force kept up their intensity until a Silkalns tripping infraction at 4:47. Tri-City took advantage of their second power play at 5:17 on a one-timer to make it 2-1. Immediately following the Storm goal, JP Turner rang a drive off the post, nearly re-establishing the two goal lead. Zam Plante made an incredible effort, as while he was on his backside, he hooked the puck to Tanner Walos. Walos' rebound found the stick of Boris Skalos, who drilled it at 11:38, extending the Fargo advantage to 3-1. Tri-City wasn't done, as the Storm potted home a snapshot, which deflected off of Marinov at 14:25, again making it a one goal game, 3-2. The Storm kept up their late game surge, gaining a power play after Tri-City pulled Korpi at 18:48. Jakob Stender was called for delay of game at 18:59, giving the Storm a two man advantage. Despite it being 6 on 4 in favor of Tri-City, Fargo again kept the offense outside the dots, and held on to win game 1.
Game 2 between Fargo and Tri-City is tomorrow, Saturday, April 29 at 6:05 pm CST on Flo Hockey and 740 The FAN. If necessary, game 3 will be Sunday, April 30, 4:05 pm on Flo Hockey and 101.9 Jack FM. Tickets can purchased online under the 'Tickets' tab on the Fargo Force website or by clicking HERE
