The Stampede kicked off the month of December this past weekend with a late weekend split series against the Lake Erie Bighorns and Elmira Jr. Enforcers.

The weekend kicked off on Thursday as the Herd traveled south to ErieBank Sports Park to take on Great Lakes division foes, the Lake Erie Bighorns. Having split their two previous meetings with the Bighorns, the Stampede were looking to take home a victory and two points from the trip. The first period saw a flurry of action and scoring as the Bighorns jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Buffalo’ Cameron Coogan would answer back with a goal at the 10:57 mark, assisted by Joe LoBrutto. After Lake Erie scored their third goal of the period, the Stampede would again answer back as Finnish newcomer, Santeri Husso, scored his first goal in a Buffalo jersey with assists from Caden Cranston and Jake Ruchala to send the Herd into the first intermission, down by a score of 3-2.

No strangers to comebacks, the Stampede came out of the locker room for the second period with a chip on their shoulder. Cameron Coogan would strike first, scoring his second goal of the game at the 12:28 mark, assisted by Blake Dewey and Jo Lobrutto. Just four minutes later, Blake Dewey would take his turn in the goal scorer’s seat with an assist from Jo LoBrutto, his third of the night.

As the teams took the ice for the final period, the Stampede’s Parker Bonsignore looked to extend the lead as he tallied his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Max Ciepiela and Caden Cranston. The Bighorns would attempt to mount a late game comeback as they scored their fourth goal of the game, but Stampede net minder, Luke Remenyi would stand strong in net, stopping 33 of 37 shots on the night to take home the 5-4 victory.

The Stampede returned home to Cornerstone CFCU Arena on Friday night to take on Western New York rivals, the Elmira Jr. Enforcers. Looking to make a statement of their own, the Enforcers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, and added a third goal in the second period. As the teams took the ice for the final period, Buffalo’s Bryson Miller looked to light a fire under the Stampede with a goal at the 9:18 mark, assisted by Dominic Churakos. The comeback attempt would fall short; however, as the Enforcers would add two more late goals to take the victory by a final score of 5-1. Luke Remenyi got the start in net for the Stampede and turned away 32 of 35 shots on the night.

The Stampede hit the road this upcoming weekend for 4-game appearance at the Philadelphia Hockey Club showcase at Hollydell Ice Arena. You can catch all of the action live on HockeyTV.