OMAHA, Neb. – (RV) Omaha Hockey (15-11-1, 11-5-1 NCHC) won its sixth-straight home game 4-1 over Minnesota Duluth (10-14-1, 6-9-0 NCHC) in front of 7,443 fans on Country & Cowbells night on Kemp Ice at Baxter Arena on Friday night.
The first period seemed uneventful, apart from the Mavericks' first shot in the game.
Junior goaltender
Simon Latkoczy gave a brilliant performance, stopping 39 shots of Minnesota Duluth's 40 total.
Omaha put its first rubber on net 2:13 into the first period after freshman forward
Myles Hilman was in traffic on the visiting bench side of the ice. Freshman forward
Liam Watkins came to Hilman's aid, snatched the puck up, and circled the Bulldogs' cage.
Watkins then popped out from the other end, released the puck, and passed it to graduate forward
Brady Risk. The Medicine Hat, Alberta native slid into the circle as he caught the puck and instantly turned and released the puck.
Risk is currently tied for the 16th most goals among active collegiate players.
The puck deflected off Minnesota Duluth's goaltender, Klayton Knapp, and fell behind him into a 1-0 Omaha lead.
After the first period ended, the Mavericks and Bulldogs were tied in shots on goal 11-11.
11:58 into the second period on Minnesota Duluth's first power play, forward Callum Arnott netted the third power play goal from an opponent on Kemp Ice at Baxter Arena this season.
Three opponent goals on home ice are tied for the second-least in the nation, and Omaha's 90.3 percent penalty kill success rate on its own playing surface is tied for third in Division I.
In the third period's second faceoff, junior forward
Cam Mitchell pushed the draw forward, and senior forward
Zach Urdahl took control and rode the puck in with the help of graduate forward
Sam Stange.
Urdahl then took it along the home-bench side wall in the Bulldogs' zone and dumped it behind Stange, who quickly gave it to Mitchell.
Mitchell gave it back without hesitation to Urdahl, who blasted one through to take back the lead 2-1 13 seconds into the third period.
Omaha was in the driver's seat and took control after it found its lead again.
On the power play, Risk flung the puck up the ice and connected with Stange just behind the blue line. Stange then led the charge into Bulldogs' territory and centered it on Risk, who caught up behind the play. Risk then gave it off to his right in front of the crease, where graduate forward
Harrison Israels gained possession and immediately saw graduate forward
Jimmy Glynn.
5:01 into the final frame, Glynn had about the closest thing to a sure goal. He put it in like he was on the back nine, a nearly wide-open net as Knapp was trying to defend Israels.
Omaha has now scored power play goals in three straight games and has netted at least one in five of its last six.
After Latkoczy made his 38th and 39th saves of the evening, the puck bounced around in the right spot as Mitchell tapped it. Then Urdahl launched a rocket across the ice and scored his second goal of the game on the empty net.
Urdahl has four games this season with two goals. No other Maverick has more than one game with two or more goals.
The Mavericks and Bulldogs play in the series finale on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. on Kemp Ice at Baxter Arena.
Season and single-game for Omaha hockey home games at Baxter Arena are on sale now at OMavs.com/Tix.
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