RoughRiders beat Waterloo in shootout, 2-1 (w/video)

CEDAR RAPIDS - They're weary, no doubt about that. But it's a good kind of weary.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders finished their three-in-three the best way possible, finishing off their biggest rival, the Waterloo Black Hawks, in a rousing shootout last night, 2-1, before a sold-out crowd of 3,548 fans at The Stable.

The Riders picked up two wins and five of six points in a Thanksgiving stretch that saw two games against Waterloo and one against Sioux City. But it's not just those three games in as many nights for what appeared to be a physically drained team by the end of this one.

Consider where the Riders have been the last three weeks. Literally all over the United States Hockey League.

“It started out in Fargo, then Sioux City,” said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson, seemingly counting the miles traveled as he recounted the itinerary. “Then, I believe, it was a Wednesday in Indiana, then to Chicago and Musekegon, Mich. Then home to play on a Wednesday night, a Thursday night and a Friday night.

“To say that's challenging is an understatement. I give our guys a ton of credit for battling the way that they did. A National Hockey League team would not be asked to do what we did, and those guys are professionals.”

Yet the RoughRiders have come out of this almost impossible stretch with a league-best point total of 27 on a 13-3-1 record. They picked themselves up after an overtime loss Thursday night in Waterloo, thanks to the continued stupendous goaltending of Brady Hjelle, a first-period goal from Cason Hohmann and pro-like shootout moves from Jayson Megna and Justin Kovacs.

Both were similar, fakes to the backhand and knee-breaking pulls to the forehand. Megna had his 15-game point streak stopped, but it was his goal as the third shooter that ended up giving Cedar Rapids the 2-1 shootout win.

“It's nice when you're a coach to be able to throw people out there with that kind of ability,” Carlson said. “Kovy made a great move, and Megs made a great move. Tough to stop.”

Hjelle, meanwhile, has been arguably the USHL's best netminder the first half of the season. He was all over the place again last night with 35 saves and four of five in the shootout.

Hjelle has a USHL-best 12-1-1 record, is third in goals against average (1.97) and fifth in save percentage (. 928).

“Brady has played extremely well,” Carlson said. “He's really competing. He's a leader on this team, on and off the ice. The great thing is he's only going to keep getting better.”

Here's video of Hohmann's goal, followed by the annual Teddy Bear Toss. Also video of the entire shootout.

And here's a link to the game boxscore:

http://ushl.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=1341411