JANESVILLE, Wis. -- Traverse City's lead didn't last long, but what was more important to the North Stars is that it was there at the end in a 4-3 victory over Janesville to split a season-opening series in Wisconsin.
Doug Clifford scored his first North Stars goal with 16 seconds left to give TC a 4-3 victory over the expansion Janesville Jets.
Janesville scored the first goal of each period, but was answered each time by the Stars -- by Sean Burke in the first and Eric McLintock in both the second and third.
Nilan Nagy drew two assists for the Stars, setting up the team's first two goals. Phil Wendecker, Curtis Heinz and Garrett Thompson each had one helper.
Tyler Marble made 28 saves to pick up his first win of the season.
Traverse City heads to suburban Minneapolis for the annual 20-team NAHL Showcase. The Stars will face Alaska (Wednesday), Team USA (Thursday), Springfield (Friday), and Bismarck (Saturday).
JANESVILLE 4, TRAVERSE CITY 3: Janesville scored the first two and last two of a 4-3 win over TC to start the season off for both teams Saturday night.
Jordan Bancroft and Cam Severson put the Jets up 2-0 in the second period after a scoreless first before Thompson scored later in the second to pull the Stars within a goal.
Burke and Andy Huff put Traverse City up 3-2 with goals 50 seconds apart in the third period, but Janesville would go back up on Ethan Nauman and Rui Encarnarcao scores.
TC's Drew Strandberg made 20 saves, but took the loss.
The loss gave the Stars (0-1-0) their first sub-.500 record since March 28, 2008.
ICE CHIPS: McLintock, Burke, Thompson, Nagy and Wendecker finished the opening weekend with two points each. ... Burke led the team with a +3 rating in the first two games. ... McLintock scored goals on the only two shots he took.
Print this story
E-mail this story
