OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha hockey team rode the strength of its special teams to a convincing 6-1 win over Colorado College on Wednesday night at Baxter Arena.
Six different players scored for the Mavericks, and
Isaiah Saville stopped a game-high 31 saves. The Mavericks earned a pair of power play goals and two more shorthanded to improve to 3-2-0 overall and 3-2-0-1-0 0 in the NCHC, putting them in a tie with North Dakota for third place. The Tigers, playing their second game of the pod, fell to 0-1-1 overall and 0-1-1-0-0 1, good for seventh.
INSIDE THE FIRST PERIOD
The Mavericks got on the board five and a half minutes in when
Brandon Scanlin walked down the slot, took a pass from
Ryan Brushett and roofed a shot over goalie Matt Vernon for his first of the year.
Taylor Ward made it 2-0 when he poked in the rebound of a point shot by
Jason Smallidge for his second goal in as many games.
The Mavericks were forced to kill three penalties in the first, but they made the most of two of them. First,
Nolan Sullivan took advantage when a CC defender fell down. He grabbed the loose puck and raced the other way, eventually squeezing in a sharp-angle shot around a sliding defender to make it 3-0.
Luck was on the Mavericks' side on their next kill. One of the Tigers' defenseman broke his stick, coughing up the puck to
Jack Randl. He sped in and slipped a shot under goalie Dominic Basse who had relieved Vernon after the third goal.
INSIDE THE SECOND PERIOD
The teams skated through a scoreless middle period with the Mavericks outshooting the Tigers, 10-5, thanks in part to three power plays.
INSIDE THE THIRD PERIOD
The Tigers finally broke through just 1:14 into the period when Jack Millar fired home a slap shot from the right point.
Not long after the goal, the Tigers got into penalty trouble with a minor and a major handed out 27 seconds apart.
The Mavericks used the power plays to stretch their lead.
Matt Miller, the reigning NCHC Rookie of the Week, scored off a one-timer from the left face-off circle for this his team-best fourth goal of the season at 2:36.
Brock Bremer then poked home a loose puck at 5:27 for his second goal in as many games.
The Mavericks will have two more days off before returning to action with back-to-back games against Miami on Saturday, Dec. 12 and St. Cloud State on Sunday, Dec. 13. Both games start at 8:05 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES:
- Miller, Scanlin, Smallidge and Chayse Primeau are part of a six-way tie for third in NCHC scoring with six points.
- Scanlin and Smallidge are tied for first in NCHC defenseman scoring.
- Miller is tied for first in NCHC rookie scoring.
- The shorthanded goals for Sullivan and Randl were the first of their careers.
- The last time the Mavericks scored two shorthanded goals in a game was Nov. 7, 2015 in a 4-2 win over Minnesota Duluth.
- The Mavericks have killed off 12 straight opponent power plays.
Three Stars: 1.
Brandon Scanlin/Omaha (1-1-2); 2.
Brock Bremer/Omaha (1-1-2); 3.
Isaiah Saville/Omaha (31 saves)
