Lancers Open Road Series in Indy Tonight
Published on March 9, 2007 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
TONIGHT'S GAME
(March 9th, 2007) - The Lancers make another weekend trek to the USHL's East Division, this time to Indianapolis for a two-game set against the Indiana Ice. Tonight is game one of the series, with game two set for tomorrow night. Both games against the Ice will be at the venerable Pepsi Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, and both games start at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central time).
The Lancers enter tonight's contest with a record of 28-13-4 for 60 points and first place in the USHL West Division (2nd place in the overall league standings). The Lancers lead second-place Sioux City in the West Division standings by one point. A 14-game non-loss streak is on the line this weekend, as the Lancers have gone 12-0-2 since mid-January. It's the longest active streak of games without a regulation time defeat, and the longest streak of its type overall this season. On the road, Omaha is 14-7-3 and returned to its winning ways Sunday with a 4-3 victory at Sioux Falls.
The Ice enters tonight's play with a record of 22-18-5 for 49 points and third place in the USHL East Division chase. Indiana is seven points in front of fourth-place Green Bay in the East Division standings and eight points behind second-place Cedar Rapids. Indiana is 15-4-3 in home games this season, but are 3-6-1 in its last ten contests and will be looking tonight to stop a two-game losing skid.
RECENT HISTORY
The Lancers won the first two games of the season series with the Ice with a sweep of games at the Mid-America Center, both by scores of 4-1 on December 15th and again on December 16th.
In the first game, four separate players scored goals, including Patrick Schafer and Corey Toy. Schafer, Robby Dee, and Mark Olver each finished with two points for the night, as Schafer and Dee scored goals and Olver provided two assists. In his first game as a Lancer goaltender, Drew Palmisano stopped 19 of 20 shots in earning the victory in net.
In Saturday's victory, Olver and Adam Comrie each scored goals and each added a pair of assists apiece for a three-point night for each player. Schafer added another goal and another assist for two more points and Toy went plus-three for the game. Palmisano earned another victory in the crease for the Lancers with a one-goal, 25 save effort.
In the 2005-06 season, the Lancers won four of five meetings with Indiana (4-1-0, eight points), with Schafer scoring two goals in the five games. In the 2004-05 campaign, the Lancers were 3-1-0 in four games. In the overall series between Omaha and Indiana, the Lancers lead by a margin of 9-2-0. The Lancers have never lost in Indiana since the Ice came to Indiana from Danville, Illinois, when they were called the Danville Wings and played one season in the USHL. In that season, the Lancers went 3-0-1 against the Wings, so the overall Lancer record against the Danville/Indiana franchise is 11-2-1 since the 2003-04 season.
LANCERS REWIND
A three-goal rally in the third period gave the Lancers a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Sioux Falls Stampede in Sioux Falls on Sunday, March 4th. Forward Barry Almeida scored the game-winning goal with just 25 seconds remaining in the contest, as the Lancers stopped Sioux Falls' four-game winning streak. The win also was the Lancers' 12th win in 14 games without a regulation time loss (12-0-2). Sioux Falls opened the scoring in the opening moments of the game on a goal from Ryan Guentzel, but the Lancers quickly answered as Nick Petrecki took a feed into the slot from Travis Novak and beat Sioux Falls goaltender Matt Lundin for his ninth goal of the season at the 1:33 mark of the game. Brad Malone answered for Sioux Falls inside of three minutes into the contest for a 2-1 Sioux Falls advantage at the first intermission.
The Stampede increased the margin to 3-1 in the second period, as Patrick Tiesling scored, but Lancer goaltender Drew Palmisano stopped 16 of 17 second period shots to keep the lead from getting any bigger in the middle session.
In the third period, Almeida scored the first of his two goals for the night with his fifth goal of the year, assisted by Thurber at 29 seconds of the frame to cut the margin to 3-2, Sioux Falls. The Lancers then tied the game with Jack Downing scoring his seventh goal of the year at the 12:07 mark, assisted by Jarmo Jokila and Thurber. That set up the heroic moment for Almeida, as he took a pass from Mark Olver deep in the slot and beat the Stampede goalie for the game-winning score at 19:35. The power play goal was Almeida's fifth goal of the year, his first power play goal and his second game-winning score of the season. Corey Toy was also given an assist on the game-winning score.
The goal by Almeida made the Lancers 1-for-5 on the power play for the game, while Sioux Falls was shutout of the power play in six opportunities. The Lancers won, despite being outshot by a 36-22 margin for the contest, as they took ten shots in the first period, were held to just three in the second period, and scored three goals on nine shots on net in the final period. 17 of Sioux Falls' 36 shots on net came in the second period of play.
In net, Drew Palmisano won his 15th game of the season (15-8-4) and his 14th with the Lancers (14-2-1), with a 33 save effort. Lundin dropped to 18-11-3 for the season with a four-goal, 16-save performance.
The Lancers evened their record against the West Division with the victory (12-12-2) and won for the 14th time away from home (14-7-3).
OLVER MAKING POINTS ON THE SCORESHEET
Lancer forward Mark Olver earned an assist in Sunday's victory over Sioux Falls, increasing his assist total to 25 and his point total to 47 for the season, putting him in a tie for 13th overall in the USHL. Along with his 22 goals scored (tied for seventh overall in the USHL), Olver leads the team in all three categories, goals, assists, and points. Mark also leads the team in plus-minus stats at plus-22 for the season, and is first in game-winning goals scored with five. Olver's 160 shots on goal rank also among the top five in the USHL. In 11 games between January 19th and February 23rd, Olver scored 23 points. In his career, Mark has played 101 USHL games, has 27 goals and 45 assists for 72 points. He has scored four goals and eight points in the last five games played, including a three-goal hat-trick (four-point night) at Chicago on February 23rd. In two games against the Ice, Olver has scored one goal and has four assists.
ALMEIDA ON A TEAR
Lancer forward Barry Almeida scored two goals, including the game winning tally with 25 seconds remaining, in last Sunday's 4-3 victory at Sioux Falls. The pair of red-lighters gave the native of Springfield, Massachusetts four goals and eight points in his last three games. The game-winner was also a power play goal, his first of the season. The Boston College recruit has six goals and 15 points in just 16 games played with Omaha. Nine of his 15 points have come in his last five contests.
THURBER ON A ROLL
Matt Thurber's two assists in Sunday's win at Sioux Falls gave him 23 helpers for the season and 35 for his two-year USHL career. The Beaver Dam, Wisconsin native now has collected 11 points in his last seven games, dating back to February 6th. In that run, Thurber has gotten two points in four games. The seven game point streak is the longest active point streak in the league, entering tonight's play.
PALMISANO PACES THE LANCER NET (MINDERS)
One of the reasons for the Lancers' continued surge to the top of the USHL standings has been the improvement of play at their crease in the second half of the campaign. Lancer fans quickly look back to the last weekend of the regular season before Christmas, when Drew Palmisano arrived from Ohio. Since then, Palmisano has led the team to a 14-2-1 record (15-8-4 overall), a 2.38 goals-against-average, and a .921 save percentage. Palmisano is 4-0-1 in his last five games played, including a 33-save performance in the Lancers' 4-3 win at Sioux Falls on Sunday. Overall for the season, Palmisano is seventh in the circuit in goals-against-average at 2.87, and fourth in save percentage at .913.
BEST IN THE WEST, BEST AGAINST THE EAST
While the Lancers remain in a close battle for the top spot in the West Division of the USHL, their play against the East Division remains dominant, compared to other West Division squads. The team's 16-1-2 record against the East (34 points) is the best record in the USHL against inter-division opposition. The only blemish to their record against East remains a 4-0 shutout to Waterloo in October, and in recent weeks, shootout losses in February to Cedar Rapids and to Chicago.
INDIANA ICE CHIPS
The Ice is led by Garrett Roe, who has 50 points in 42 games on 20 goals and 30 assists. John Kemp leads the Ice in assists with 35 and in second in points scored with 46. Mike Phillippi has the best plus-minus statistic on the roster at plus-six. Ron Cramer leads Indiana in penalty minutes with 141, followed close behind by Ryan Scott at 139. Mike Embach has 111 for the season, with 18 coming with Indiana since being sent there from Chicago and Roe is fourth in PIMs with 101. Jake Skjodt is the team leader in power play goals with 12, followed by Roe with 10. Greg Squires has three shorthanded goals to lead in that department, while Roe and Eric Kattelus each have three game-winning goals. Alex Kangas has come to Indiana from playing in Sioux Falls last year, and has fashioned a 16-12-5 record in 35 games played. Kangas has a goals-against-average of 3.12 and a save percentage of .905. Kangas has one shutout to his credit this season and has made 943 saves. The next goal Kangas allows with be his 100th of the season. Indiana is fifth in the USHL on the power play at 17.9% (55 of 307) and is seventh in penalty killing at 83.38% (60 of 361). The Ice has scored 10 shorthanded goals this season and has allowed five "shorties." Indiana's two-game losing streak is the longest active losing streak in the USHL; however both losses were on the road in last weekend's road-trip to Lincoln. Indiana is 15-4-3 in home games, including a seven-game home winning streak between November 11th and January 3rd. Entering this week's schedule of games, Indiana led the USHL in penalty minutes (1434), minors (447), majors (48), and misconduct penalties (18). The Ice also leads the league in game-misconduct penalties with eight. They are averaging 31.87 penalty minutes a game, far and away the league leader in that category. In overtime games, Indiana is 2-3 and is 1-2 in shootouts. When scoring first, Indiana is 16-2-3 for the season. Against the West Division, Indiana has a record of 8-10-2. Omaha is the only USHL team Indiana has not defeated yet this year. When leading after two periods, the Ice is 16-0-2 this year, and is 10-0-2 leading after two periods at home.
United States Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2007
- Lancers Skate Through Indiana In Series Opener - Omaha Lancers
- RoughRiders Outlast Sioux Falls 4-2 - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Lancer Alumni Notes - Omaha Lancers
- Storm road game rescheduled for March 27 - Tri-City Storm
- Storm hosting St. Patrick's Day party - Tri-City Storm
- Lancers Open Road Series in Indy Tonight - Omaha Lancers
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