Lynch returns and burns RoughRiders, 3-1

CEDAR RAPIDS - There were a couple of people spotted in the stands at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena wearing No. 13 jerseys with the name “Lynch” on the back.

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders fans love their former players. They always remember them.

Just in case, Ben Lynch gave them a performance never to forget Sunday afternoon. The Lincoln Stars forward burned his former team by scoring two goals in his new team's 3-1 win before 2,556 fans at The Stable.

“Hard to explain,” Lynch said, when asked about Sunday's experience. “It was kind of weird. It was fun, it was exciting. It was nice to come back and see all the guys. It's a great place to play hockey here. I loved it when I was here.”

Lynch, 20, played the previous two seasons with the RoughRiders (6-2) and went through this preseason with them, too. He said he realized, however, that premium ice time might be difficult to come by, so “I had to make some changes.”

It was a mutual departure without any hard feelings. RoughRiders head coach/general manager Mark Carlson called around the United States Hockey League to find a spot for Lynch and found one in Lincoln.

Lynch is getting lots of ice time for the Stars, including on the top power-play and penalty killing units.

He jumped on a loose puck in the crease and popped home a shot past Riders goalie Troy Grosenick on the power play midway through the first period for a 2-0 Lincoln lead. Late in the second, he took a home run pass from defenseman Cory Hibbeler at the Riders blue line, skated in alone and roofed a bullet past Grosenick that pinged off the underside of the crossbar for a 3-1 edge.

Lynch has five goals and an assist in nine games for Lincoln (4-5-0).

“It was a little different going out on the ice from the visitor's side,” said Lynch, who got a nice applause when introduced in the starting lineup before opening faceoff. “I didn't expect (to score twice). I just told myself I wanted to come out and play hard and have some fun. Luckily, I got a couple of good bounces, a couple of good passes, and they went in for me.”

“It was hard seeing him on a different team,” said RoughRiders captain Jeff Costello. “He definitely played well tonight for them. You've got to give him credit. He played really well, they played really well.”

Zach Lehrke had the only goal for Cedar Rapids, which split two home games over the weekend. A day after going 5 for 6, the Riders were 0 for 7 on the power play, a contributing factor to this loss. So was a lackluster first period that saw the Riders outscored, 2-0, and outshot, 13-6.

The Riders have a home-and-home series against Chicago this weekend, including a home game Saturday night.