Weekend road trip to Utah ahead for Thunderbirds

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Scott Ludwig — Leave a comment

After a week away from game action the Las Vegas Thunderbirds (11-5-0-0) are traveling north to West Valley City to face the Utah Outliers (14-5-0-0) in a three-game series. Game one is scheduled for Friday 6:00 PM at the Accord Ice Center.

Las Vegas currently sit in second place of the WSHL West, nine points back of Fresno Monsters (13-6-1-1). The Thunderbirds are in good shape though with five games at-hand and a 4-0 record against the Monsters to-date.

Utah are one of just two Northwest Division teams above the .500 with the league-leading Ogden Mustangs and Outliers dominating their division rivals so far. Utah ended the 20-game win streak of the Mustangs last week before having their own 13-game run end the following game.

Players to watch for the Outliers include leading scorer Ben Doherty (16 goals, 34 assists) a rookie forward from Alexandria, Minnesota. The 2019 Cardinals captain has already surpassed his points totals from his senior season.

Three foreign born players are among the team scoring leaders: Jakub Lelek of Czech Republic along with Russian skaters Andrei Shmakov and Nikita Andrusenko all have at least 29 points this season.

20-year old Oscar Wahlgren (1.85 GAA, .930 save%) of Sweden has been stellar in net for the Outliers. The second year goaltender is a product of the Bäcken HC.

Tune in all three games this weekend live on Black Dog Hockey and follow along on Twitter for live updates.