Gameday Preview: December 5-6
Published on December 4, 2025 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
OMAHA (4-19-1-1, 10 PTS) vs. WATERLOO (6-13-0-1, 13 PTS) Friday, Dec. 5 7:05 p.m. CST
vs. DES MOINES (8-8-2-3, 21 PTS) Saturday, Dec. 6 6:05 p.m. CST
Lancers Play A Pair Of Iowa Based Teams On Home Ice: The Omaha Lancers return home starting Friday night against the Waterloo Black Hawks... The Lancers will then conclude the two-game stand Saturday night against the Des Moines Buccaneers with their Teddy Bear Toss Night game... The Waterloo Black Hawks are coming off a 3-2 loss to their arch-rival Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Sunday (Nov. 30) on the road after a 5-1 loss three days prior (Nov. 30) at home... The Des Moines Buccaneers' last game was Wednesday before Thanksgiving when they fell to the Dubuque Fighting Saints in a high-scoring 8-4 loss... The Bucs were originally scheduled to play Tuesday night (Dec. 2) against the Sioux Falls Stampede, but that game was postponed due to an illness running through the Stampede roster...
The 'Hawks Come To Town: The Lancers will meet the Waterloo Black Hawks for the first of four meetings this season... The Lancers will seek their first win over the 'Hawks since March of 2023, and their first win on home ice against the 'Hawks since March of 2022... The Lancers are 94-66-9-6 all-time in regular season action when facing off with the Black Hawks... Waterloo has out-shot Omaha in each of their past 11 meetings dating back to February of 2023... Waterloo has also registered just 490 shots on goal through 20 games so far this season, the second-fewest in the USHL... The Lancers have struggled on the power-play over the years when facing off with Waterloo with just 9 power-play goals in the last 24 meetings... The last time the Lancers registered multiple power-play goals in a single game against Waterloo was January 19, 2021...
Buccaneers To Battle The Lancers Saturday On Home Ice: This will be the first of five meetings between the Lancers and Bucs this season... The Lancers will seek their first win against the Bucs on home ice since April of 2022... Jan. 20, 2018 was the last time the Lancers have scored a short-handed goal against Des Moines... Since that time, the Buccaneers have scored 7 short-handed tallies against Omaha... The Lancers' d-men have accounted for 4 goals so far this season, while the Buccaneers' d-men have accounted for 5 goals... Head-to-head in the Buccaneers-Lancers series history, the Lancers have had 114 goals netted by their d-men against the Bucs, while the Buccaneers' blueliners have accounted for 113 goals all-time against Omaha... The Lancers are 111-98-13-7 all-time in the regular season against the Bucs...
Lancers' PK Turned A Corner?: In the Lancers' previous matchup with the Lincoln Stars Saturday night (11/29), Omaha went a perfect 5/5 on the PK... That's the first time the Lancers went 5/5 on the PK since October 27, 2024 against the Sioux Falls Stampede... The Lancers eventually fell to the Lincoln Stars after coming back from three goals down before Lincoln won 4-3 in the shootout...
Lancers To Watch: Forward Jack Stanius continues to be a steady force for Omaha offensively... Stanius has registered 10 points (6+4) through 22 games, including 8 points (6+2) through the last 15 games... All six of Stanius' goals have come against Western Conference opponents... Lancers' forward Lefty Markonidis scored 3 goals against the Waterloo Black Hawks last season when playing for the Lincoln Stars... Markonidis also scored a goal the last time he faced the Des Moines Buccaneers late last season...
Black Hawks To Watch: Forward Chase Jette is in his third season with the 'Hawks... The future Mike Hastings product is sitting on 16 points (7+9) through just 12 games... Jakeb Lynch is entering his 10th game this season... The Papillion native has yet to register a point since joining Waterloo last month but Lynch he has recorded at least one shot in every game played this season except for one against his former Des Moines Buccaneers club in which his night was cut short due to committing a kneeing major and receiving a game misconduct...
Buccaneers To Watch: Forward Blake Zielinski is in his second season with the Bucs and recently appeared in three games with USA Hockey's National Team Development program... The Providence commit registered 6 points (2+4) in four games against the Lancers through last season... Defenseman Ryan Kroll will be in a familiar place Saturday night... The former Omaha Lancer is still seeking his first career USHL goal despite playing in the league for three-and-a-half seasons and 137 career USHL games... The UMass-Lowell commit has accounted for 203 career penalty minutes...
United States Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2025
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- Gameday Preview: December 5-6 - Omaha Lancers
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