OMAHA, Neb. – A pair of quick power play goals staked the No. 20 Miami hockey team to a 2-0 lead, but a slew of penalties in the second proved costly as Omaha came back to prevail 6-3 on Saturday night.
The loss snaps the RedHawks' (7-3, 1-1 National Collegiate Hockey) four-game winning streak.
After dropping the series opener, the Mavericks came out guns blazing, registering five shots on goal in the first five minutes before drawing the first penalty of the game at the 5:05 mark. The RedHawks got a couple more stops from
Ryan Larkin before ultimately killing off the man advantage.
UNO carried an 8-2 shots on goal advantage near the midway point of the frame, going on another power play with about nine minutes gone by. Larkin again stood tall with MU getting several blocked shots as well to keep the contest scoreless.
A too many men on the ice penalty on Omaha following by another UNO minor penalty gave Miami the chance to go to work offensively after spending the bulk of the period in its zone. The Red & White took advantage of the numbers both times as
Grant Hutton blasted home a one-timer off a feed by
Josh Melnick that opened the scoring with 7:01 remaining. The second power play saw Hutton blast another shot from the point that Evan Weninger stopped, but
Phil Knies pounced on the rebound above the right circle and roofed a shot for his third goal of the year to make it a 2-0 contest.
Jonathan Gruden also picked up an assist Knies' goal.
While Miami killed off a third Omaha power play late in the frame, UNO did get on the board before the horn sounded as Taylor Ward fired in a rebound from a sharp angle with 1:01 showing on the clock to cut MU's lead to 2-1 after 20 minutes with UNO holding a 16-8 shots on goal advantage.
Play slowed down for long stretches of the second period, but a pair of penalties, one of which was a major and game misconduct, proved costly for Miami as the Mavericks scored on a two-man advantage and netted two more power play goals during the five-minute major. Fredrik Olofsson tied things up at the 7:35 mark during the 5-on-3 and goals by Kevin Conley and Chayse Primeau put the Mavericks in front 4-2 at the second intermission.
The RedHawks got a comeback bid started when
Gordie Green capitalized on a rebound from a
Bray Crowder shot just 1:45 into the third, pulling them within 4-3.
Rourke Russell also earned a helper on the tally.
Miami got a chance on the power play with 9:27 left, but could not get anything going as it remained down a goal. Shortly after the man advantage, Omaha scored twice in a 53-second span to put the game away on goals by Tristan Keck and Mason Morelli.
UNO outshot MU 37-23 and finished 3-for-10 on the power play while Miami went 2-for-5. Larkin's personal five-game winning streak was snapped after he made 31 saves while Weninger finished with 20 stops. Hutton (1g, 1a) posted a multi-point game from the blue line.
The RedHawks return home next weekend for a series against North Dakota. Puck drop in Friday's series opener is at 7:35 p.m.
