Outliers take Seattle Totems

The Outliers traveled to Washington State to take on the Seattle Totems for a three-game series. The Outliers continued their strong play and came away with a sweep. The Outliers won by scores of 6-0, 3-2 (SO) and 7-1. 

Thursday night was game 1 of the series and saw the Outliers blank the Totems by a score of 8-0. Game one started in Utah’s favor as the visiting team showcased their dominance and set the tone early by outshooting the Totems 19-8. Utah was able to convert on three of its chances to establish a three-goal lead after period one courtesy of goals by Nash Hatcher, Nikita Andrusenko and Andrei Shmakov. 

In period two, the Outliers kept up the pressure and continued to pepper the Totems goaltender with another sixteen shots on net. Trent Gephart capitalized on two of his chances for back-to-back goals to give the Outliers a 5-0 lead heading into the final frame. 

The third period showed more of a push back from Seattle and was more tightly contested. Andrei Shmakov scored his second goal of the game to give the Outliers a 6-0 win.

Oscar Wahlgren continued his terrific playmaking some critical saves throughout the game. He continued his shutout brilliance by stopping 33 shots. 

On Friday, in game 2, the Outliers found themselves trailing the Totems on two occasions and had to come back to tie the game late in the second and push the game to a shootout to earn a 3-2 victory. 

Despite putting up 77 shots on net the Outliers were thwarted all night long by the stellar play of the Seattle goalie Rustam Kulizade. Utah registered 30 shots on goal in the first period alone, only to skate away tied at 1-1.

In the second period, the Outliers continued to shell the Seattle netminder with another 22 shots but would not find the back of the net until 8.9 seconds left in the period. Brad McCloskey received a pass at the point from Vojtech Svoboda and fired a perfect shot to tie the game at 2-2.  

The game would remain scoreless in the third and overtime despite both teams having some good chances at the net. The two goaltenders ended up stealing the show and matched each other save for save to take the contest into a shootout. 

Oscar Wahlgren once again demonstrated his dominance between the pipes during the seven-round shootout, stopping all of Seattle's shooters.

Dawson Armstrong sealed the shootout win for the visiting team when he scored on a nifty little deke, moving left to right, and sliding the puck between the legs of the Seattle netminder for a 3-2 SO victory. 

In game three, Utah defeated the Totems by a score of 7-1. The Outliers started a 5-0 lead before Seattle broke Wahlgren's shutout with 14 seconds remaining in the second period. 

Utah was led offensively by Jett Arminen (2), Nash Hatcher (2), Helvis Rudzajs (1), Dawson Armstrong (1) and Andrei Shmakov (1). 

Oscar Wahlgren shut the door with 30 saves on the night.