Black Hawks Beat Steel, 2-1

A 2-1 Waterloo Black Hawks victory Friday at Young Arena against the Chicago Steel lifted Head Coach P.K. O’Handley to second place in career USHL coaching wins.

The 522nd regular season tally on his resume ties O’Handley with former Thunder Bay Flyers and Sioux City Musketeers coach Dave Siciliano.  Now the only man in league history with more victories is Mike Hastings, formerly of the Omaha Lancers, at 529.  O’Handley is near the midpoint of his 12th season in Waterloo and his 19th in the USHL, following seven years with the North Iowa Huskies.

The opening period Friday was all about goaltending; Chicago’s Chris Nell stopped 16 shots, while Cal Petersen turned in 13 saves.  The Hawks finally recorded the opening goal with 4:07 remaining before intermission.  Drew Melanson handled the puck below the goal line before dropping a pass to Alec McCrea, who snuck up from the right point to beat Nell with a low shot.

A Hawks’ power play allowed the home team to double the lead in the second; Brandon Montour fed the puck across the slot, and Melanson redirected it into the net at 8:50 of the period.  The frame also included a back-and-forth scrap between Waterloo’s Derek Pratt and Chicago’s Robby Payne nearly four minutes later.

Petersen was within 40.2 seconds of claiming a shutout, but with an extra attacker on the ice, C.J. Smith was able to flip a puck through traffic and into the net.  However, the Steel could not manage an equalizer in the limited time remaining, and Petersen delivered the win with 27 saves.  Nell had 35.

The Hawks will take the ice two more times before the beginning of 2014, including a visit to Cedar Rapids on Saturday.  Good seats for Waterloo’s New Year’s Eve matchup against the Lincoln Stars at Young Arena are also still available online from waterlooblackhawks.com or by calling the Domino’s Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680.

For Friday's box score, please click on the link below.  As of 11:45, the online box incorrectly lists Waterloo's second goal as being scored by Montour rather than Melanson.  The Steel should also be listed as 0/4 on the power play:
http://ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=2234394