April 30, 2009
And then there were two. The Indiana Ice and Fargo Force have advanced through two rounds of playoff action which now results in a best-of-five series to crown the Clark Cup champions.
Both organizations are seeking their first USHL playoff title as the expansion Fargo Force become the second club (Lincoln Stars, 1996-97) to compete for the league crown in their inaugural season and the Indiana Ice make their debut in the final series.
Regular Season Comparison
Indiana Ice vs. Fargo Force
Indiana Fargo
Record 39-19-2 32-23-5
Home 22-8-0 19-10-1
Road 17-11-2 13-13-4
Goals For Per Game 3.68 (3rd) 3.18 (8th)
Goals Against Per Game 2.95 (5th) 2.77 (4th)
Shots For Per Game 31.05 (6th) 30.05 (9th)
Shots Against Per Game 28.45 (4th) 29.67 (6th)
Power Play % 20.9% (3rd) 14.8% (10th)
Penalty Killing % 86.0% (3rd) 85.9% (4th)
(league ranking in parentheses)
Season Series:
10/10/08 – Fargo 1 @ Indiana 3
10/11/08 – Fargo 2 @ Indiana 6
2/20/09 – Indiana 4 @ Fargo 1
2/21/09 – Indiana 1 @ Fargo 2
Head-to-Head Stats:
Indiana Fargo
Record 3-1-0 1-3-0
Home 2-0-0 1-1-0
Away 1-1-0 0-2-0
Goals For 14 6
Goals Against 6 14
Power Play 3-22 (13.6%) 1-23 (4.3%)
Penalty Kill 22-23 (95.7%) 19-22 (86.4%)
Head-to-Head Team Leaders:
Indiana Fargo
Points Torey Krug (2g, 4a) Andy Taranto (3g, 1a)
Goals Four players tied with 2 Andy Taranto, 3
Assists Torey Krug, 4 Matt Leitner, 2
Plus/Minus Brent Gwidt, +4 Andy Taranto, +2
Garrett Kennedy, +4
PIM Joe Hartman, 12 Luke Witkowski, 12
Wins Brett Bennett, 2 Cody Campbell, 1
GAA Brett Bennett, 1.34 Cody Campbell, 2.10
SV% Brett Bennett, .947 Cody Campbell, .933
Notes:
* These two teams have not met since February 21st which was the first win of the season series for Fargo and the first victory in their season high six-game win streak. Following that game, Fargo finished the season with a 9-3-2 record and Indiana finished with a 10-5-0 record.
* Fargo scored just one power play goal during the regular season series, but tallied two shorthanded goals.
* Fargo's Andy Taranto and Indiana's Mike Cichy tied for the league lead during the regular season with 34 goals each.
* Indiana goaltender Brett Bennett led the regular season with 35 wins and Fargo goaltender Mike Lee ranked second in the league with 26.
* During the regular season, the teams had identical records within their own division (20-14-2).
* In the playoffs, Indiana has outscored their opponents 16-7 in the third period while Fargo has outscored in their opponents 9-2 in the third.
* Indiana is the top scoring team in the playoffs averaging 4.56 goals per game and Fargo is the top defensive team allowing 1.83 goals per game.
* Indiana has scored the first goal in seven of nine playoff games and Fargo has tallied the first goal in four of six playoff games.
* Both clubs are 4-0 in the playoffs when leading after two periods of play.
* Fargo has been out-shot in all six playoff games while Indiana has out-shot the competition in five of nine playoff games.
The USHL is celebrating its 30th season of junior hockey in 2008-09. With nearly 170 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 16 NHL Draft picks that played in the league this season, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at www.ushl.com.
