Lancers Battle Storm in Tuesday Night Encounter
Published on March 20, 2007 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
The Lancers head west on I-80 tonight to meet West Division rivals, the Tri-City Storm, at the FirsTier Events Center in Kearney, Nebraska. It's the first game in a busy three-game week of action against the West, with two of the games taking place on enemy ice. After tonight's action, the Lancers will host the Sioux Falls Stampede on Friday, March 23rd, then travel to Lincoln to meet the Stars on Saturday, March 24th. All three games this week will have 7:00 PM starts at their respective rinks.
The Lancers enter tonight's action with an overall record of 32-13-4 for 68 points and first place in the USHL West Division standings and in the overall Anderson Cup regular season standings. They lead second-place Lincoln by three points in the West Division race, and lead Cedar Rapids by two points in the Anderson Cup chase. The Lancers are 16-7-3 in road games this season, 8-0-2 in their last ten contests, and are riding a five-game winning streak heading into tonight's contest. Last week, the Lancers claimed two overtime victories at home, a 5-4 decision over the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Friday, March 16th, and a 3-2 victory over Des Moines on Saturday, March 17th.
The Storm is 28-16-5 for 61 points and a tie for third place in the West Division standings. Tri-City is 13-8-4 in home games, 4-4-2 in its last ten contests, and is in the midst of a one-game winning streak. The Storm is tied with Sioux City for third place in the West and is four points behind Lincoln for the number two spot in the standings. Tri-City and Sioux City are two points ahead of fifth-place Des Moines. Last week, Tri-City lost at Sioux City 5-1 on Friday, March 16th, then returned home to complete a sweep of the season series from Green Bay with a 4-3 decision on Saturday, March 17th.
RECENT HISTORY
Tri-City leads the current season series with the Lancers with a 4-0-1 record for eight points, while the Lancers are 1-2-2 against Tri-City for four points. However, all four Tri-City wins came prior to the current pair of Lancer goaltenders joining the team. Omaha claimed the last meeting of the rivals with a 5-4 overtime victory at Kearney on February 10th. Goaltender Michal Valent earned the win in net for the Lancers, allowing four goals and making 37 saves in posting the victory. Mark Olver scored the game-winning goal for the Lancers, beating Tri-City goaltender Aaron Rock at 2:54 of the overtime period. The win was the Lancers' ninth straight victory at the time. The teams play one more time this season, on April 3rd, in a 7:00 PM encounter at the Mid America Center. Last season, the Storm claimed the season series from the Lancers with a 4-3-0 record, while the Lancers won six of nine regular season games against the Storm in the 2004-05 campaign. Tri-City was 5-1-2 against the Lancers in the 2003-04 season, while the Lancers won five of six encounters (5-1-0) in the 2002-03 season.
LANCERS REWIND
Jarmo Jokila's unassisted goal in the final seconds of the overtime period gave the Lancers a 3-2 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers last Saturday. It was the second straight overtime victory for Omaha in as many nights.
Andrew Conboy opened the scoring for the Lancers in the second period, a wrap-around power play effort that got by Des Moines goaltender Matt Dalton for a 1-0 lead at 42 seconds of the middle frame. Des Moines tied the game with a second period goal by Richard Purslow, then took a 2-1 lead early in the third period on a tally from Rody Selk.
But Patrick Schafer banged in a shot past Dalton at 11:28 of the final period, assisted by Mark Olver, for a 2-2 tie and the resulting overtime period.
In the extra session, Lancer defenseman Chris Hepp was penalized for tripping mid-way through the period, but the Lancers were able to kill off the penalty. Then, Jokila picked up a loose puck shortly after the penalty's expiration, skated in past the Des Moines defense and beat Dalton for the game-winning goal with just 17.9 seconds remaining in the extra period for the win.
In the contest, the Lancers scored once on the power play in ten opportunities, but held the league's top power play team scoreless in six chances. In the battle of the shot clock, the Lancers dominated the offense with a 40-shot effort, compared to just 20 shots on goal by Des Moines.
Michal Valent of the Lancers won the war of goaltenders with an 18-save effort for his sixth win of the season (6-0-1), while Dalton was called on to stop 37 shots, but let three in, and saw his season record fall to 24-12-6. He's now 3-2-2 against Omaha this season.
The Lancers won their fourth straight against Des Moines, however the season series is tied at eight points each with one game remaining. The Lancers are also 4-1 in overtime decisions, while the result was Des Moines' first loss in overtime (2-1).
PETRECKI IS YOUR DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lancer defenseman Nick Petrecki earned USHL Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending March 17th. The native of Clifton Park, New York scored two goals and added an assist, including a power play goal, in a 5-4 overtime win over Cedar Rapids Friday, March 16th. The next night he had an assist in a 3-2 win over Des Moines. He had eight shots on goal and was plus-one in the plus-minus column for the weekend. He has contributed four assists in his last four games, dating back to March 9th.
It's the second time this season Petrecki has been awarded the Defensive Player of the Week award; he has been an honorable mention on two other occasions.
For the season, Petrecki moved into fifth place in goals scored by a defenseman with 11. In addition, he has 12 assists for a total of 23 points, putting him among the league leaders in points by a defenseman. His .147 shooting percentage is tops among league blue liners. Nick is fourth in the USHL (second among defensemen) in penalty minutes with 147 in 43 games played. He has taken 56 minor penalties, putting him second in the league (and second by a defenseman) in that category.
By the way, going back to last season, Petrecki needed 61 games to score his first USHL goal. Since then, he's scored 11 goals in 35 games.
PALMISANO YEARNS FOR THE SPARTAN LIFE
Lancer goaltender Drew Palmisano (Ann Arbor, Michigan) has committed to Michigan State University for the 2008-2009 season. Palmisano has posted an 18-8-4 overall win-loss record thus far this season, splitting his time with the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets and, since December 15th, the Lancers.
"Drew has been one of the most instrumental players in turning our season around and we're happy for him to able to play at a university like Michigan State," said Head Coach Mike Hastings. "Drew is excited about the opportunity to play so close to home."
For the year, Palmisano is eighth overall in goals-against-average by a goaltender at 2.84. He is third in save percentage at .914.
When he arrives in East Lansing, he'll continue a tradition a Lancer goaltenders from Michigan trading in Orange and Black for Green and White. Dominic Vicari and Jeff Lerg have both gone on from successful Lancer careers to play at Michigan State.
OLVER CONTINUES TO GET OFFENSIVE
Lancer forward Mark Olver scored a goal and added an assist last weekend to give him 51 points for the season, on 24 goals and 27 assists. That puts him on top of the Lancer scoring list for the season and also has him in a tie for 15th among the league scoring leaders. Mark leads the USHL in plus-minus statistics at plus-27 for the campaign and is third in the league for game-winning goals with five. Helping Mark's power surge this season was an 11 game streak of 23 points from January 19th to February 23rd; the fourth longest overall point streak of the season in the USHL.
Against Tri-City, Olver leads the Lancers in scoring with nine points on three goals and six assists. Mark has scored one power play goal against Tri-City, has one game-winning goal, and has one shootout goal against the Storm. In road games this season, Olver has scored 13 goals and has 29 points in 23 games away from home.
In the Lancers' last ten games, Olver has 16 points on eight goals and eight assists. In the last five, Mark has two goals and five assists.
THAT CONBOY GUY DOES IT AGAIN
Fresh off a weekend in Indiana that garnered him Offensive Player of the Week honors, Lancer forward Andrew Conboy continued to pour in goals with two more last weekend (one each against Cedar Rapids and Des Moines), to go with an assist for three points. Conboy has now scored six goals in the Lancers' last four games and is tied for the longest active goal-scoring streak in the league, dating back to March 9th.
Andrew is the team's leading goal scorer on the road with 14 goals for 22 points in 24 contests. He is tied for the point lead in the team's last five games with seven points, six of which have come by way of goals he has scored in that time frame.
SCHAFER IS HONORABLE MENTION
Lancer forward Patrick Schafer earned an honorable mention in the balloting for this week's Offensive Player of the Week award in the USHL. Schafer scored a goal Saturday in the Lancers' overtime win over Des Moines and added two assists the night before against Cedar Rapids. Patrick has scored points in the team's last four games; three goals and five points.
LANCER SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY
On the road, the Lancers' power play team is now tied for seventh in the USHL at 14.6% (26 of 178 in 26 games played). Overall this season, Omaha's power play is tenth-best in the league at 13.3% (47 of 353 in 49 games played).
On the penalty kill, the Lancers are ninth in the league on the road at 81.5% (37 of 200), and are tenth overall in the circuit at 82.4% (62 of 353).
Omaha has scored 12 shorthanded goals this season, including three on the road, and has allowed only three shorthanded goals this year, and all three have occurred in games away from home.
ALSO OF NOTE.....
The Lancers are 19-1-1 when leading after forty minutes of action, and are 22-6-3 when out shooting their opponent. The Lancers are 15-5-4 in one-goal games and are 9-0-0 in games decided by three goals.
On the road, the Lancers are 9-0-1 when ahead after two periods of play and 9-1-3 in one-goal decisions.
Lancer defenseman Chris Hepp has been tagged with 36 penalty minutes in his last 12 games, the longest active streak of its type in the USHL and second-longest overall this year.
Omaha's five straight wins is the longest active win streak currently going, dating back to March 4th. The Lancers had a nine-game win streak going from January 16th to February 10th; the second longest win skein overall this year.
The Lancers have won three straight road games, dating back to March 4th, including a pair of wins in Indiana and one in Sioux Falls to start the current road winning streak.
Against West Division competition, the Lancers are above .500 for the first time in some time this season at 13-12-2. On enemy ice, the Lancers are 16-7-3 overall. In overtime games, Omaha is 4-1 and is 5-3 in shootouts.
HISTORY COULD BE TIED TONIGHT
A win by the Lancers tonight would tie a league record for consecutive games without a regulation-time loss. The longest undefeated streak in one season in the USHL came in the 1998-99 season, when the Des Moines Buccaneers strung 19 games together without a loss. The Rochester Mustangs ran 20 straight games without a loss in 1986, but the streak spanned two separate seasons, from February 15th, 2006 to the end of the 1985-86 season, then continued at the start of the 1986-87 season to November 9th.
The Lancers' current 18-game (16-0-2) non-loss streak dates back to January 16th. 11 of the 18 games have come on the road, with only seven occurring on Mid-America Center ice.
By contrast, last season, the Lincoln Stars went just seven games without a regulation time loss. In the 2004-05 campaign, the Lancers had the longest non-loss streak in the league at just five games. Tri-City had the longest non-loss streak in the league in the 2003-04 season at five, and Chicago strung a five-game non-loss skein in the 2002-03 season.
United States Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2007
- Bucs fall in shoot out to Green Bay - Des Moines Buccaneers
- RoughRiders Alum Goepfert Named to All-WCHA First Team - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- RoughRiders' Jones Named USHL Offensive Player of the Week - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Lancers Battle Storm in Tuesday Night Encounter - Omaha Lancers
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