Black Hawks Beat Stampede, 7-4, Montour Scores Hat Trick

The biggest Waterloo Black Hawks playoff scoring outburst in nearly a decade included a hat trick by Brandon Montour as the home team prevailed 7-4 at Young Arena Friday during the first game of the best-of-five Clark Cup quarterfinal series between the team.

Montour turned 20 on Friday and celebrated with the first postseason hat trick by a Waterloo defenseman since Doug Schmidt scored three times against the Sioux City Musketeers on March 22, 1996.  As a team, the Hawks had not recorded a seven-goal playoff performance since topping the Danville Wings 9-1 on April 21, 2004.

Montour notched the opening goal of the contest at 4:49, coming off the left wing boards and lifting a shot inside the long-side post.  During a power play just over five minutes later, Waterloo struck again; Liam Pecararo snapped a pass through the goalmouth and Blake Winiecki scored on one touch before goalie David Jacobson could move from right to left. However, Sioux Falls got one goal back at 15:10 – just after a power play ended – forcing a turnover which led to Zeb Knutson’s shot under the crossbar from close range.

Each team scored twice during the second period, beginning with a Sioux Falls equalizer during a five-on-three power play, when Christian Horn fired a puck from the left dot inside the opposite post.  The Hawks rallied back with a pair, as Mark Friedman’s shot was deflected by Drew Melanson and trickled into the net at 6:39.  Then Winiecki scored his second of the game at 8:10 on a rush up ice after Zach Sanford had fought off a check to feed the puck across the slot.

However it took just 22 seconds for Louis Nanne to get one back in transition, making it a 4-3 contest.  The Stampede thought that they had tied the game at 11:39, but Ed McGovern was ruled to have knocked the puck into the net with his glove.  Less than two minutes later, Cal Petersen’s right-to-left save to deny Keith Burchett and snuff out a two-on-one opportunity kept the Hawks ahead.

Waterloo pulled away in the third, beginning 19 seconds after the period started as Montour blasted the puck into the net during a two-man advantage.  Pecararo scored into an open side at 6:47 when the rebound of Peter Krieger’s acutely angled shot bounced his way.  Nolan Gluchowski brought Sioux Falls back within two, scoring on a wrist shot at 10:57, but Montour completed the hat trick and sealed the win, netting a low shot with 2:44 remaining when left alone in the left circle.

Petersen made 25 saves and Jacobson 40 as Waterloo outshot Sioux Falls 47-29.

Game Two between the Black Hawks and Stampede is at Young Arena Tuesday. Good seats for the matchup are available by calling the Domino’s Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680 or online from waterlooblackhawks.com.