For the Texas Tornado, it was a case of deja vu all over again.

For the second consecutive night, the Tornado faced a smaller, faster opponent, hung with them for a while before ultimately getting left in the dust, dropping another 6-2 decision to the US National Under-18 team Saturday at the Frisco Dr Pepper StarCenter’s DejaBlue Arena.

Once again, the Tornado played well in spurts, but delivered an inconsistent effort that saw them surrender goals on turnovers and mental lapses. While it is a good thing that these last two contests did not count in the NAHL’s official standings, the Tornado have now lost four straight games - all at home - by a combined score of 21-4, and with the playoffs looming in three weeks, they are not exactly heading in on a high note.

For Team USA, which is preparing to head to Russia next month to compete in the World U-18 Championships, Jeremy Morin and Jordan Schroeder each scored two goals for the second straight game and Ryan Bourque, the son of former NHL great Ray Bourque, collected three assists (for a total of five on the weekend) to lead the American attack. Danny Kristo and Kyle Palmeiri added a goal and assist each while David Warsofsky contributed two assists.

John Bobb and Sergei Korostin scored goals for the Tornado, while Tommy Callaghan surrendered six goals on 39 shots in goal.

“Whatever I said last night, just change the date from the 14th to the 15th and write the same thing,” said Tornado assistant coach Craig Ludwig, the former Dallas Stars defenseman. “It was like Groundhog Day.”

The night before Ludwig criticized his team’s ability to maintain their effective opening burst and had a hard time finding any positives in the Tornado’s performance. He felt the same way after this one.

One good development for the Tornado was that winger Gustav Bengtson, who was leveled by a blind-side hit in the third period Friday night, was surprisingly back in the lineup. After remaining down for several minutes and then being assisted off the ice less than 24 hours earlier, it certainly appeared that Bengtson had suffered a concussion, but he was back on the ice and didn’t miss a shift.

For the second straight night, the Tornado started off with their best stretch of the contest, generating several scoring chances in the first period. The first came just five minutes in when Sam Goodwin, who scored two goals Friday night, carried into the US zone on a 2-on-1 with John Kruse and opted to fire a wrist shot from the slot, but US goaltender Joe Cannata made a nice shoulder save.

A minute and a half later, Callaghan made a nice sliding save on Kristo’s wrist shot from the slot to keep the game scoreless.

The Tornado, who had scored just two goals in their previous three games, continued to be snake-bitten offensively, as they hit two goalposts within 1:02 midway through the first period, with the score still 0-0.

First, Korostin raced into the US zone on the rush and fired a quick wrist shot from the slot that beat Cannata, but clanged high off the post behind him with, with 8:49 left in the period, and then Justin Lee ripped a wrist shot from the right half-boards that pinged off the near-side post before Cannata smothered the loose rebound.

The Tornado also almost connected on back-to-back chances on a power play with about four minutes remaining in the opening period, as Cannata stopped Korostin’s wrist shot from the right face-off circle and then, seconds later, denied Ben Van Lare’s one-timer from just inside the blue line through a screen.

Team USA continued to battle and took the lead with just 19 seconds remaining in the period on a goal by Palmeiri. After Callaghan stopped Warsofsky’s slap shot from the point, the rebound bounced right to Palmeiri at the right side of the net, and his sharp-angle one-timer beat Callaghan on the short side to give the US a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

Texas tied it just 12 seconds into the middle period. Adam Mitchell stripped a US defender of the puck in the right face-off circle and then fed it in front to Bobb, who has just one goal in NAHL play this year. Bobb made no mistake, slamming it past Cannata on the short side to make it 1-1.

The Tornado momentum lasted just 40 seconds, however, as Schroeder connected for his first of the night at the 52-second mark. Bourque carried over the Texas blue line and fed a beautiful cross-ice pass to Schroeder, who blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle that Callaghan had no chance on.

Team USA nearly made it a two-goal lead less than a minute later as David Wolberg fired a wrist shot from the high slot, but it ricocheted off the crossbar and stayed out.

Texas then raced down the other way on the counter-attack, resulting in a breakaway for Mike Cifelli, but Cannata stopped his attempt to go five-hole.

Another pretty pass by Bourque set up the next US goal at 7:53, on a play that was almost a carbon copy of Schroeder’s goal. Just four seconds after Korostin entered the penalty box for hooking, Bourque feathered a nice cross-ice feed to Morin at the top of the left circle, and the subsequent one-timer zoomed past Callaghan and in for a 3-1 US lead.

The Tornado had an opportunity to climb back into it after Warsofsky was whistled for rouging with 5:56 left in the period, giving Texas a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:13, but the home club could not capitalize.

The floodgates began to open in the third, as Team USA cashed in on another power play 7:15 into the final period. Seconds after Callaghan made a fantastic pad save on Morin, Bourque again slid a velvety cross-ice pass to Morin in the slot, but this time, instead of booming a one-timer, Morin held the puck and cut back to catch Callaghan down on the ice, and the skilled 16-year-old from Auburn, NY, slipped it into the empty net for a commanding 4-1 US lead.

For Bourque, it was his fifth assist of the weekend, and his famous father was bursting with pride as he watched from the stands.

“He had a couple of nice passes tonight, (three) really nice assists,” the former Bruins and Avalanche defenseman said of his son. “He’s a great player and I just love watching him play, just like my oldest son Christopher (who plays for AHL Hershey) - they both love the game so much and have such a passion for it, and that’s what they want to be doing, and they’re doing great at it.

“Ryan’s really a player that goes out there and plays hard and has some good skills. Sometimes he tries to do too much, but he’s learning how to handle all that right now. He’s in a great place playing for the US National Development team, really having an incredible experience this year, understanding how to play as a team. It’s really intense and he’s grown in a lot of ways, physically and hockey-wise and just as a young man living away from home.”

The Tornado got one back just 1:42 later as Korostin collected a turnover just inside the US blue line and juked his way into the slot before firing a sharp wrister past Cannata’s blocker. It was Korostin’s second point in as many nights after going four games without one.

The US team, however, struck right back again just 56 seconds after that, as Schroeder picked up his second goal of the game and fourth of the weekend at 9:53 on a fabulous individual effort. Schroeder sped into the Texas zone, faked his way past a Tornado defender in the right circle, and then cut across the slot, where he made a quick move to his backhand to slide it around Callaghan to push the lead to 5-2.

Another 55 seconds later, Team USA completed the rout as Kristo wired a quick wrist shot from a sharp angle low in the right circle over Callaghan’s shoulder on the short side.

With 5:53 remaining and Texas on a power play, Wolberg nearly made it a five-goal advantage as he raced in on a breakaway, but Callaghan made a pad save when Wolberg made the move to his backhand.

So with two weekends before the playoffs begin, the Tornado have a lot to clean up in their game if they want to make a good showing. None of that work will be done next Friday, however, when they play against a team of retired NHLers in the Pros vs. Prospects IV charity contest at the DejaBlue Arena (a 7:30pm start - watch or listen to Tommy Daniels and myself with the call on b2 networks). There will be one more ‘real’ game at home on March 28 against Topeka, but not much is likely to be accomplished next Friday.

Ludwig, who will be skating for the Pros, outlined his expectations for the Tornado heading into the charity game and beyond.

“Me personally, from the standpoint of just the game itself, if the Pros lose, I’m going to be very disappointed,” he laughed. “I think that game is going to be completely removed from what we have to do. It is absolutely an opportunity for a lot of these kids to be on the ice at the same time as Luc Robitaille and Steve Duchesne and Brett Hull and guys like that. That’s all that this game is for and that’s the end of it.

“I think that between now and the playoffs and that one game with Topeka, it’s going to be details and trying to find a game that we can play that’s going to give us an opportunity to win in the first round. But that game next week is just an opportunity for kids to see the work and the dedication that these guys put in to get to that level, and even though we’ve been out of the game for a few years, we can still play the game.

“And it’s just that, they take a lot of pride in what they did when they played, how they got there, and that they were there and still do, so maybe that’s going to be the biggest lesson that these guys can see - that they can look at guys that haven’t played, look at Neal Broten that hasn’t played in a long time, that they can say that these guys are truly dedicated to their sport and the game of hockey. They’re here because it’s a good time, but they know that it’s a great opportunity for the kids, too and it’s very cool of them to come for that.”

THREE STARS

3. Ryan Bourque, USA (three assists)
2. Jordan Schroeder, USA (two goals)
1. Jeremy Morin, USA (two goals)

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