OMAHA, NE. - The Omaha Lancers and the Lincoln Stars took the biggest rivalry in North American Junior Hockey to Liberty First Credit Union Arena Friday night. The Lancers came off a disappointing week, losing to Des Moines, and then losing in overtime to the Waterloo Black Hawks the following night. Meanwhile the Lincoln Stars have remained red hot, coming off a 4-3 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers last Saturday night.
The first period was filled with fundamentally sound defensive play by both teams. The ice however was tilted in Omaha's favor, outshooting their rival 11-6. Lincoln veteran goaltender, and Vegas Golden Knights draft pick Cameron Whitehead looked solid early on, shutting down both Lancer powerplay opportunities.
The Lincoln Stars would have a surge late in the first, but Lancer netminder Michael Hrabal was up to the task as well. With that it was scoreless after one.
The second period came with Lancers dominating play from start to finish, outshooting Lincoln 14-4 in the frame.
The scoring opened with Lancer defenseman Max Wattvil netting his first career USHL goal, wristing it by a screened Cameron Whitehead.
However, just 27 seconds later, it was Lincoln veteran forward Doug Grimes, who screened Hrabal, and gets the deflection in the back of the net, making it tied at one apiece.
The Lancers would continue to dominate play, but Whitehead would continue to be up to the task until late in the second, when a loose puck comes to the high slot to find Lancer defenseman Luke Baker, as Baker winds up with a bomb past the glove of Whitehead, which made it 2-1 Omaha.
The rivalry started taking effect later, when Lancer forward Will Diamond offered to drop the gloves with Lincoln defenseman D.J. Hart. Hart would wisely decline, but the chippy play would continue heading into the third period.
The third period was Omaha and Lincoln at its finest, with neither team sending each other Christmas cards anytime soon, the chippy play escalated throughout.
The chippy play wasn't the only thing that became more prominent in the final frame, as the Lancers scoring also opened up.
Starting with Lancer forward Vincent Salice, who gets a terrific pass from Aleksi Kivioja, as Salice puts it top shelf, giving Whitehead no chance, extending Omaha's lead at 3-1.
The Lancers would get called with back-to-back penalties later on, putting Lincoln on a two-man advantage. But Lincoln was no match for the number 1 penalty kill in the league, as Omaha was able to kill them both off.
However, as Omaha killed off that second penalty committed by defenseman Nate Benoit. The Lancers found Benoit on a break coming out of the box, streaking on a breakaway, and the Minnesota Wild draft pick buries it, which made it 4-1.
Lincoln began to get frustrated as Lincoln defenseman D.J. Hart, and Lancer forward Will Diamond continued to have conflict. A questionable "no call" after Will Diamond crashed the net, D.J. Hart cross checks Will Diamond in the back of the head repeatedly while down on the ice, Diamond slow to get up afterwards. He did appear okay.
The Lancers win it 4-1 improving to 4-2-2-1. While the Lincoln Stars fall to 6-2-0-0.
The Lancers go on the road Sunday against the Sioux Falls Stampede. Puck drop is at 4:05 CST. You can catch the game on Mixlr or on FloSports.
