Stampede get spooked by Storm

Sioux Falls, S.D. (Stampede) — The Sioux Falls Stampede fell to the Tri-City Storm in a tight 3-2 battle. Forward Ethan Wyttenbach netted the team’s lone goal, while goaltender Aiden Wright made 17 saves.

Unlike the previous night, the first period saw limited action. The Stampede faced an early penalty at 3:16 but successfully killed it off. However, Tri-City struck first at 14:33, with Ilya Morozov putting the Storm on the board. The Stampede had a chance to equalize with back-to-back power plays at the end of the period but came up empty. Despite dominating shots on goal with 16 compared to Tri-City’s three, they headed to the locker room trailing by a goal.

The second period followed a similar pattern. The Stampede killed off an early penalty, but at 14:42, Tri-City scored again, extending their lead. The Storm won the shots-on-goal battle in this period as well, recording 10 shots to the Stampede’s six.

The third period was the most action-packed, featuring two goals from Sioux Falls. Less than two minutes in, Wyttenbach scored his tenth point of the season, tapping in a shot that went wide off Sam Spehar’s stick. Shortly after, Wyttenbach received a penalty, but the Stampede successfully killed it off. With just 1:07 left, Sioux Falls pulled Wright from the net, allowing Tri-City to capitalize with an empty-net goal. The Stampede weren’t finished, though; captain Brock James found the net with just 23 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, the late surge wasn’t enough to force overtime, and the Storm secured the win.

Despite the loss, the Stampede outshot the Storm 33-20. Aiden Wright recorded 17 saves, bringing his record to 3-2-0-0, with an .872 save percentage this season.

The Stampede will travel to Des Moines next Saturday for a matinee game before returning to the PREMIER Center on Sunday to face the Omaha Lancers. Fans can look forward to skating with the team following the 4:05 PM game.

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