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March 9, 2023 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
STARS vs. LANCERS
When: Friday, March 10 at 7:05 p.m.
Where: Ice Box
Tickets: bit.ly/3kW9Fv7
Watch: Flo Hockey (flohockey.tv/live/46063)
Listen: Mixlr (mixlr.com/lincoln-stars)
LINCOLN (26-18-3)
The Stars face the Lancers tonight for the first time since Dec. 30 and wrap up a stretch of four consecutive games at home dating back to Feb. 25. Lincoln is 1-2 during this stretch but 4-1 against Omaha this year.
The Stars split a pair of games last weekend against Sioux City and Waterloo. Patrick Raftery scored the game-winning shorthanded goal with 40.6 seconds remaining in regulation on March 3 vs. the Musketeers to break 3-3 tie and snap a six-game losing streak. Lincoln took a 2-0 lead with 6:32 remaining in the first period on March 4, but surrendered the game's final six goals, including three in the third period, to fall to the Black Hawks.
Jared Mangan is in the midst of a recent surge for the Stars with five goals over his last nine games. He has scored half of his season total in that time and became the sixth Stars to cross the double-digit goal threshold when he tallied 1:52 into last Saturday's game.
OMAHA (13-25-5-2)
The Lancers look far different from the last time that they came to the Ice Box on Nov. 4. Seven skaters who took the ice that night no longer wear the Omaha crest and 10 players to appear in at least one game against Lincoln are no longer with the Lancers.
Omaha traveled to Fargo last weekend and dropped both games to fall to 0-4-1 in its last five games. The Lancers fell behind 3-0 after the first period and never recovered in a 6-1 loss last Friday but went late into the third period scoreless before the Force scored with 3:49 remaining in regulation for the game's only goal.
Former Star Griffin Jurecki leads all remaining Omaha players with 22 points (12+10). Jurecki is three points away from matching his output from last season with the Stars (11+14). He has not recorded any points in five games against Lincoln after previously playing 89 games for them over the previous three seasons.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Power Play Apples: Lincoln is sixth in the USHL with a 23.6 power-play percentage and a big reason why is thanks in part to Mason Marcellus and Boston Buckberger. Marcellus is tied for second in the USHL with 18 power-play assists while Buckberger is fourth with 17, a figure which also leads all USHL defensemen. The Stars have only gotten eight opportunities on the man advantage over their last four games and are taking on the second-best penalty killing unit in the USHL in Omaha (83.3-percent).
Goaltender Matchup: If Cameron Whitehead and Michael Hrabal are tonight's starting goaltenders for the Stars and Lancers, respectively, then it will be the fifth time that they will be matched up against each other this season. Whitehead has gotten the better of his counterpart, winning four decisions while recording a 1.75 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. Hrabal is looking to get back in the win column as he is 0-4-1 in his last six games between the pipes. He is 1-3 with a 3.00 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage vs. Lincoln.
Milestone Watch: Stars forward Doug Grimes is set to appear in his 100th USHL game tonight. Sixty-nine of those games have come with Lincoln but he also appeared in eight games with Cedar Rapids in 2021-22 and 22 games with Sioux Falls in 2020-21. Forty-seven of Grimes' 51 points have come with the Stars and he is second on the team with 15 goals this season. Marcellus also enters tonight five points away from 100 in his USHL career.
United States Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2023
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