OMAHA, NE. - The Omaha Lancers resumed the biggest rivalry in North American Junior Hockey with the Lincoln Stars Friday night at Liberty First Credit Union Arena. The Lancers had lost an astounding 10 of their last 11 meetings with the Stars dating all the way back to March 19, 2022. That same game in March of 2022, was also the last time the Lancers had registered a powerplay goal against Lincoln. However, Coach David Wilkie has had the Lancers playing much better for the past month, and though the scoreboard has not always shown that, the eye test certainly has. The Lancers would look to utilize their improvement any way they could to help spoil and disrupt playoff seeding for the Lincoln Stars.
The first period had plenty of offense from each side.
Lincoln would get on the board first early on as forward Tanner Ludtke would wrist one short side on goaltender Kevin Pasche to give Lincoln the early 1-0 advantage.
The Lancers would respond with a goal of their own, as defenseman William Smith would catch a beautiful pass from Nick Pierre in the high slot, before Smith would rip it past Lincoln netminder Cameron Whitehead to knot it up at one goal apiece.
The Lancers would eventually get a powerplay opportunity later in the period, and they would score on it. This time coming off the stick of defenseman Adam Cardona, as Cardona would shoot it past Whitehead short side to give Omaha the 2-1 lead.
Lincoln would respond right back with forward German Yavash sneaking backdoor to poke one in the back of the net to tie it right back up at two apiece going into the second period of play.
The second period had picked up where the first had left off with plenty of scoring once again.
The scoring would start on the powerplay yet again for the good guys, as forward Matt Romer would get yet another beautiful cross-ice pass from Nick Pierre to make it 3-2 Lancers.
Shortly thereafter, the bad blood between the two teams would begin to show, as Adam Cardona planted Lincoln forward Jack Larrigan into the boards, from that the powder keg would drop as Lincoln's Doug Grimes would come flying in before Lancer forward Ryan Kusler intercepted Grimes and would tackle him to the ice. Everyone would be tangled up in the scrum, before things would subside.
Lincoln would get back on the board with the flukiest of goals as forward Brennan Ali would throw a loose puck from below the goal line at Pasche, and Pasche would be unable to gather it into his chest for a stoppage, as the puck would helplessly roll over the goal line to tie it back up at three apiece.
The Lancers would respond right back however, as forward Drew Montgomery attempted to backhand a pass to a streaking Libor Nemec, but the puck would ricochet off a Lincoln stick and go over the shoulder of Whitehead to give the Lancers a 4-3 lead.
However, Lincoln would just not go away as a miscommunication between Lancers d-men give Lincoln forward Klavs Veinbergs the opportunity to skate right through the middle of the ice to bury it top shelf to make it a tied game going into the third at 4-4.
The third period had both sides sharpen up defensively throughout as each team would get chances, however they would be farther and fewer in between.
However, midway through the third Lincoln would score as pesky forward Mason Marcellus deflected a shot from the point to give the Stars a 5-4 lead.
From there Lincoln would hold on, as Doug Grimes would cash in on a empty netter to give Lincoln the 6-4 victory.
The Lancers are back in action tomorrow night to conclude the season series with the Lincoln Stars at the Ice Box. Puck drop is at 6:05 CST. You can catch the game on Mixlr or FloSports.
