Lancers Weekly
Published on February 10, 2014 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
RALSTON, NE - After managing just seven goals in their previous four games combined, the Omaha Lancers' offense exploded last weekend with back-toback seven-goal showings in a pair of wins over the Sioux Falls Stampede and the Lincoln Stars at Ralston Arena. Winners of three consecutive games, the Lancers record stands at 30-9-4 and with 64 total points, Omaha remains alone in second place in the Western Conference and overall USHL standings, just two points shy of the first-place Waterloo Black Hawks, losers of each of their past two games.
On Friday, seven different Lancers found the back of the net in the first meeting between Omaha and Sioux Falls since October 11 th , as Steven Johnson (2A), Jake Randolph (1G, 1A), Niklas Folin (1G, 1A), Anthony Angello (1G, 1A) and Tyler Vesel (1G, 1A) each contributed multi-point performances and Omaha native Gage Hough collected the game-winning score. Rookie Lancers goaltender Hayden Hawkey was sensational on Friday, stopping 31 of the 32 Stampede shots he faced to earn the victory in net for the Lancers.
On Saturday, Ryan Tait led the way for the Lancers with two goals and the game-winning marker, and Folin (2A), Randolph (1G, 1A), Jimmy Schuldt (2A), Vesel (1G, 1A), Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (1G, 1A) and Luca Frigo (1G, 1A) each chalked up multi-point efforts. Folin's four-point weekend featured his firstcareer USHL goal, a solid enough performance to net the second-year Swedish defenseman a share of the USHL's CCM Defenseman of the Week award. Just one for their last 23 on the power-play entering the weekend, the Lancers combined to go five for nine on Friday and Saturday. Omaha's sold out crowd of 3,827 at Ralston Arena on Saturday was the Lancers' tenth sellout of the season and the third-largest crowd at Ralston Arena this year.
Next up for the Lancers, it's a Valentine's Day showdown with their archrivals, the Lincoln Stars (12-20-7, 31 pts., 7 th in Western Conference) as the two teams cap their eight-game regular-season series with a 7:05 pm clash on Friday at the Lincoln Icebox Arena. Full coverage of Friday's game begins with the "Valpak Pregame Show" at 6:50 pm on the Lancers' flagship station, "The Mighty" 1290 KOIL, with Lancers broadcaster Tony Brown providing the play-by-play.
LANCERS NOTES:
OMAHA LANCERS (30-9-4), 64 pts., 2nd in Western Conference, W3
ïÃâ- G Hayden Hawkey (19 GP, 15-2-0, 1 SO, 1.90 GAA, .930 S%) leads the USHL in goals-against average and save percentage and has appeared in each of the Lancers' previous eight games.
ïÃâ- Lancers F Jake Randolph (19G, 48A "" 67 PTS) leads the USHL in assists, points and power-play assists (19) and ranks second league-wide in plus/minus (+32).
ïÃâ- Omaha F Tyler Vesel (31G, 33A "" 64 PTS) leads the league in goals and plus/minus (+36), ranks second to Randolph in assists and points and ranks tied for second in power-play goals (10) and game-winning goals (5).
ïÃâ- Among USHL defensemen, Lancers captain Tucker Poolman (9G, 21A "" 30 PTS) is tied for the league-lead in goals and ranks first alone in power-play tallies (7).
ïÃâ- Lancers F Louie Rowe leads the USHL with 11 major penalties and ranks second in penalty minutes with 137.
ïÃâ- The Lancers' penalty kill ranks first in the USHL at home (90.4%), on the road (89.2%) and overall (89.8%).
ïÃâ- Omaha's active three-game winning streak is tied for the longest such active streak in the USHL.
ïÃâ- Omaha's power-play has surrendered just one shorthanded goal all season, tied for the fewest in the USHL this year.
ïÃâ- Omaha's overall power-play ranks second in the USHL (23.1%).
OPPONENT NOTES:
LINCOLN STARS (11-19-7), 29 pts., 7 th in Western Conference, L2
ïÃâ- The Stars' nightly attendance average of 3,587 ranks second league-wide this year.
ïÃâ- Lincoln G Michael Bitzer (32 GP, 8-15-6, 3.01 GAA, .904 S%) ranks tied for second in the USHL in appearances and losses, third in minutes played (1792:54), fourth in total saves (852) and first on shootout wins (5).
ïÃâ- Stars captain Zach Frye leads the USHL with 160 total penalty minutes and ranks second league-wide in major penalties (10).
ïÃâ- Lincoln D Connor Frantti ranks third in the USHL with 132 penalty minutes so far this season.
ïÃâ- As a team, the Stars lead the USHL in major penalties (38), total penalty minutes (912) and penalty minutes per game (23.4).
ïÃâ- Lincoln's overall power-play ranks second-worst in the USHL (12.6%), as does the Stars' home penalty kill (78.3%).
ïÃâ- While Lincoln ranks second worst in the league this season in goals per game (2.41) and fourth-worst in goals allowed per game (3.54), the Stars put the fourth most shots on goal per game this season (34.1).
ïÃâ- Head-to-head vs. Omaha this year, Lincoln is 3-4-0 overall with a -11 goal-differential, but at home vs. the Lancers, the Stars are 2 -1-0 this season.
ïÃâ- F John Simonson leads Lincoln in scoring (14G, 16A "" 30 PTS).
United States Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2014
- Lancers Weekly - Omaha Lancers
- Hawks Announce Valentine Plans - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Folin Named Ccm USHL Co-Defenseman of the Week - Omaha Lancers
- Snively, Frye, Folin, and Stewart Earn USHL Weekly Honors - USHL
- First-Place Ice Home Friday and Saturday at Pan Am - Indiana Ice
- Stampede Weekly Update: Herd Return Home for Three Games this Weekend at the Arena - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Waterloo Black Hawks Name Players of the Week - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Jersey Auctions Nets over $11k for Leukemia/Lymphoma Society - Des Moines Buccaneers
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