USHL Lincoln Stars

Three-Game Weekend with Conferences Foes on Tap

Published on February 19, 2025 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release


The Lincoln Stars will embark on their third-of-four stretches of three games in as many days this weekend when they face the Omaha Lancers and Thursday and Saturday and the Sioux Falls Stampede in between on Friday.

The weekend opens up a day early Thursday night at 7:05 for an I-80 Rivalry matchup between the Stars and the Lancers at Liberty First Credit Union Arena. Lincoln travels to Sioux Falls Friday night at 7:05 looking to avenge a 7-3 loss last Saturday. The Stars and the Lancers square off again Saturday night at 6:05 at the Ice Box on Wizard Night in the Capital City.

Lincoln (31-12-1-0) is in first place in the Western Conference and is tied with Dubuque for the best record in the USHL. The Stars extended their USHL-best winning streak to 12 games last Saturday with a 5-3 win vs. the Stampede at the Ice Box, before it ended with a 7-3 loss at Sioux Falls the next night. That winning streak was the second-longest in franchise history and five away from becoming the new record.

This weekend continues a month that has featured a plethora of matchups against the Lancers. Saturday will mark the fourth time in the last seven games that Lincoln will face its biggest rival and the fifth time in the last 11 games. The Stars have guaranteed a head-to-head season-series victory with a 5-0 start against the Lancers and three more matchups remaining. The season series wraps up March 14 at Omaha. Lincoln's five-game winning streak vs. Omaha is tied for the third-longest in franchise history and is three away from matching the club record Nov. 4, 2022 - Apr. 8, 2023. The Stars have never swept a regular-season series against the Lancers and their most wins in a campaign against them is seven from a 7-4-2-0 showing in 2005-06, when Lincoln defeated Omaha in the first round of the Clark Cup Playoffs.

Friday presents a rematch opportunity against the Stampede. Sioux Falls slipped the script from the night before by doing what Lincoln did last Friday: lead 3-0 after the first period. The Stars outshot the Stampede, 40-37, overall and got within a goal with two tallies in the opening 5:29 of the second period, but could not overcome the slow start and an 0-for-5 night on the power play. Last Saturday marked the first time that the Stars did not score when getting at least four power plays since an 0-for-4 showing Dec. 7 at Fargo.

Despite the loss, one streak did continue last Saturday as Dashel Oliver extended his point streak to 13 games. He has 24 points (10+14) over this streak, which is tied for both the longest active and overall streak in the USHL. Oliver has seven multi-point games over it and has the second-best plus-minus in the USHL with a plus-31. He has 77 points (40+37) in 156 career games with Lincoln and is tied for the 15th in the USHL with 40 points (19+21) this season. Lincoln is 24-1 when Oliver records at least one point and is 15-0 when he scores a goal. Last Saturday marked the first time this season that the Stars lost when Oliver recorded a point.

Omaha has lost 25 straight games (0-21-3-1) after a pair of identical 3-2 scores last weekend in Fargo with Friday's loss coming in overtime. The Lancers have not won since Nov. 16 (3-2 in overtime at Sioux Falls) and made another coaching change that will take effect this week. Thursday will mark the first game for their fourth head coach of the season, Ron Fogarty. He was preceded by Scott Pietruszka (0-17-3-1), Colten St. Clair (6-10-2-0) and Lennie Childs (0-4-0-0).

Goals have been extremely difficult for the Lancers to come by. They are being outscored 119-39 over this streak and their 84 goals scored are the fewest in the USHL, 33 less than the next-closest team (NTDP, 117). Omaha has not scored four-or-more goals in a game since Dec. 14 (17 games) in a 6-4 loss at Sioux City. They will travel to Tri-City Friday in between matchups with Lincoln this weekend. The Lancers are 10-22-1-1 vs. the Stars the last four seasons and have dropped each of the first five matchups this season.

Sioux Falls went 1-1-1 last weekend, dropping their third game of the weekend to Fargo in overtime, 3-2, last Sunday after splitting two contests with the Stars. They are three points behind Lincoln for first place in the Western Conference and have picked up points in five of their last six games. The Stampede are 14-4-3-0 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center and are second in the USHL in goals scored with 174, 25 behind the Stars. Friday's matchup with Lincoln is Sioux Falls' third of five straight home games that continues vs. Tri-City Saturday. The Stampede have thrived in one-goal games, despite dropping an overtime contest last weekend. They are 11-3-2-1 in one-goal games and are one-of-five USHL teams with double-digit wins in one-goal affairs.

With over 3,000 tickets sold for Saturday night's game the Stars are hoping for their second crowd of over 4,000 fans this season. Lincoln has drawn at least 3,000 fans in each of its previous three games for its three highest-attended games of the season. Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased at lincolnstars.com or by emailing connor@lincolnstars.com

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2025


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