Kovacs’ debut sparks RoughRiders

Justin Kovacs was itching. He was tired of scratching.

The first-year Cedar Rapids RoughRiders center spent his first five games out of the lineup, but made his debut Sunday and all but assured himself future ice time.

Kovacs had a goal as part of a dangerous forward line with fellow rookies Stu Wilson and Nick Lappin that helped the Riders blast the Des Moines Buccaneers, 5-0, before 1,387 fans at The Stable. A nice rebound for Cedar Rapids (5-1) from that disappointing home-opening loss Saturday night to Chicago.

“Definitely a good bounce back,” said defenseman Bryce Aneloski, who had a goal and two assists. “It's nice getting that first win at home under your belt. But then playing so well, too, that was really good. Being 5-1 after six games is a great start.”

Scoring a goal in his first junior game was a great start for Kovacs. The 18-year-old from Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., has battled a knee injury and is making the significant jump from high-school hockey.

He was absolutely stoned by Des Moines goalie Charles Williams early in the second period on a wrist shot alone in front after stealing a Bucs pass. But seconds later, Kovacs tipped in a point blast from Aneloski that also went off Wilson's stick.

“Pretty good first game, huh?” said Riders Coach Mark Carlson.

“Very excited to be in the lineup,” Kovacs said. “I got a shot to get in there and went out and played. It was pretty hard to sit out. Coming where I came from, being on the power play and penalty kill all the time, it was pretty tough. But I battled through it and finally got in there.”

Cedar Rapids dominated, getting a first-period goal from Michael Parks, a second-period goal from Aneloski and third-period goals from Jayson Megna and Jared Beers. It was the first USHL goal for all but Aneloski, who has had a very nice start to his third season in Cedar Rapids with eight points in six games.

“I thought (Saturday) night we did a lot of good things,” Carlson said. “After watching the tape, we generated lots of chances, we didn't give up lots of chances. You know how we do things. You've got to forget about yesterday when you lose. The kids came in and worked hard today and got a win.”

It helped that Des Moines (2-4) took a horde of undisciplined penalties that led to 11 RoughRiders' power plays, including three 5-on-3s. Cedar Rapids finished with a 38-14 shots edge, with goalie Troy Grosenick recording the shutout.