OMAHA, Neb. – Sparked by a flawless penalty-kill unit that did its job early, Omaha rebounded from its season-opening loss to Lake Superior State to earn a series split with a 3-0 win Sunday at Baxter Arena.
The No. 17 Mavericks (1-1) successfully denied the Lakers (1-1) on four power plays in the first period then eventually took control of a tightly contested game to put Saturday's overtime loss behind them.
Matt Miller opened the scoring for the second straight night. And Omaha tacked on two goals in the third to put the game away, something it didn't do on Saturday on a night when it dominated the play.
"Last night, statistically, you're probably going to win eight or nine out of those 10 games if you play like that," Maverick head coach Mike Gabinet said. "And we didn't. I'm really happy with the response."
Omaha wasn't nearly as dominant on Sunday. But a power-play goal by Taylor Ward early in the third period gave it the cushion it needed. Martin Sundberg then capped the victory with an empty-net goal.
The Mavericks spent much of the opening period down a man. Omaha was whistled for three penalties in the first eight minutes of the game after having only three called against it in 63 minutes on Saturday.
The penalty-kill unit killed off all three, then another before the period ended. In the season-opening series, the Mavericks denied Lake Superior State on all nine of its power-play opportunities.
"[The penalty kill] was great, especially early there," Gabinet said. "Man, it seemed like one call after another. We just did our jobs there. Excellent job by the penalty kill. Those are momentum boosters."
Omaha finally got on the board eight minutes into the second period when Miller redirected a wrist shot by Brandon Scanlin past Lakers goaltender Ethan Langenegger after Scanlin avoided a defender to shoot.
"It was a great job by Scanlin, keeping the puck in and making a nice move at the blue line," Miller said. "He walked down, and I just drove the net. And he found me for a shot-tip that just trickled in."
Miller's goal gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead at the second intermission. Chayse Primeau and Tyler Weiss assisted on the power-play goal by Ward that doubled the advantage for Omaha goalie Isaiah Saville. The junior bounced back from Saturday's overtime loss to tally 24 saves during his third career shutout.
"Whenever you can go back-to-back [games], and you're able to redeem yourself and get that confidence back, it's good," Saville said. "Whether I was playing tonight or not, I just knew mentally I had to be ready for the next opportunity that I had."
Lake Superior State pulled its goalie in the final minutes, just as it had when trailing by a goal Saturday. It worked then, as the Lakers pulled even with 64 seconds left. Sunday, Sundberg scored at the other end.
