Float like a butterfly, sting like Brennan Ali.
Ali scored 7:54 into overtime to lift the Lincoln Stars to a 4-3 win and 2-0 series victory Tuesday over the Des Moines Buccaneers at the Ice Box in the first round of the USHL Western Conference playoffs.
It was a fitting moment after a miscue off Ali's stick resulted in a Aiden Van Rooyan goal and a 3-1 Buccaneers lead 7:24 in the third period.
After matching minor penalties 6:58 in the extra frame made it 4-on-4, Lincoln fluttered in the Des Moines defensive zone with a set of touch passes near the blue line before Ali's shot sent the Ice Box crowd into a frenzy.
“We were just doing a bunch of takeovers, and I think Tony (Fernandez) or T (Tanner Ludtke) dropped me the puck,” Ali said. “I thought I had some area to skate, had a screen in front and let it rip. And the rest is history.”
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Ali's goal came after Lincoln fought back from a two-goal deficit behind goals from Mason Marcellus and Tyler Dunbar in the third period to force overtime.
After Ludtke second goal of the playoffs 3:25 into the first period gave Lincoln a 1-0 lead, Des Moines answered with a goal from Joey Muldowney. Henry Bartle gave the Buccaneers a 2-1 lead, their first lead of the playoffs, on the power play 16:28 into the second frame.
After Van Rooyan's goal, Lincoln came back with Marcellus' and Dunbar's goals, each players' first of the postseason.
“We are feeling confident because we know we have a (game) in our back pocket if we need it,” Lincoln coach Rocky Russo said. “If something goes wrong in the overtime. I've been on the wrong side of that too many times where you give a lead up late, you end up in overtime; I lost a championship that way and that still doesn't sit very well with me. It's hard for the guys to rebound in that intermission when you give up a lead like that. We knew that we were confident and play our game.”
But after Ali's miscue gave Des Moines its two-goal lead, the Stars second-year forward collected himself shift by shift.
“My linemates Mango ( Jared Mangan) and T (Ludtke) were just saying, 'Be positive and go out and score next shift,'” Ali said.
Cameron Whitehead made 29 saves, including a game-changing save on a breakaway, and moved to 2-0 in the playoffs.
Lincoln moves on to face the Waterloo Black Hawks in a three-game series beginning Friday in in Waterloo, Iowa.
