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Game Tonight: Lancers Continue to Battle with Eastern Conference Foes

March 24, 2017 - United States Hockey League (USHL) - Omaha Lancers News Release


GAME 55

Lancers at Gamblers

-7:05 pm- Resch Center

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Omaha looks to play spoiler as the Lancers take on a Green Bay team that finds themselves one spot out of the playoffs.

Free on HockeyTV:

Tonight's game from Green Bay will be free for fans to watch on HockeyTV. The game, selected as the USHL Game of the Week, will be available to any fans who create a free HockeyTV account.

Looking Back:

Omaha and Green Bay renew acquaintances on Friday night at the Resch Center. The Lancers and Gamblers last met on March 11 and 12 of last season at Ralston Arena. Green Bay found themselves victorious on both nights of a back-to-back outscoring the Lancers 10-2.

Omaha visited the Resch Center twice during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. On each of those occasions Omaha split the weekend set with the Gamblers.

Scouting the Gamblers:

At the start of the weekend the Gamblers find themselves one point out of the playoffs, sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. With only five games remaining the Gamblers have played more games (55) than any of the teams they are chasing.

Defenseman Connor Mackey leads all Green Bay skaters with 47 points (6g, 41a). Captain Jared Spooner is two points back of Mackey with 45 points (18g, 27a). Forward Casey Mittelstadt is back in the Gamblers lineup after leaving to play the high school season with Eden Prairie (MN). The defending USHL Forward of the Week, Mittelstadt has 27 points (10g, 17a) in 19 games. In his first weekend back with the Gamblers the forward recorded six points (2g, 4a) en route to Player of the Week Honors.

Maksim Zhukov and David Hrenak have split time in net for the Gamblers. Zhukov, the defending Goaltender of the Week, has appeared in 29 games while Hrenak has appeared in 30. Both netminders have similar numbers as Zhukov has posted a 2.31 goals against average to go along with a .911 save percentage. Hrenak is allowing 2.37 goals per game paired with a .918 save percentage.

Omaha Debut:

Forward Andy Nedeljkovic is expected to make his Omaha debut on Friday night in Green Bay. The Omaha affiliate recently finished his season with Victory Honda U18. Nedeljkovic recorded 35 points (16g, 19a) in 32 games for his club this season.

Nedeljkovic was acquired by the Lancers as a part of the trade that sent Austin Alger to Muskegon. Originally drafted in the second round of the 2015 USHL Futures Draft by Muskegon, the Canton, Michigan native has played for Victory Honda in each of the last five seasons. Over two seasons at the U18 level Nedeljkovic was nearly a point-per-game player, recording 50 points in 51 games.

First Win: Netminder Ryan Keane became the fourth goaltender to record a victory for Omaha this season on Saturday. The Lewisville, TX native made 30 saves against Youngstown including stopping the last 24 shots he faced. Keane joins Peter Thome, Jacob Acton, and Tommy Nappier as goaltenders to pick up a win for Omaha this season.


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