Goalie Ray Fraser celebrated his birthday Friday night in the best way possible - by notching a shutout.
Fraser steered aside 16 shots to lead the Omaha Lancers to a 4-0 victory over the Sioux City Musketeers. It was the third shutout of the young season for the 20-year-old, who has never had more than two shutouts in a season.
"This is rare for me," he said. "But the guys gave me a three-goal lead and did a great job of playing defense. That made it really easy."
Despite the victory, Omaha's first at home this season, Lancers' Coach Mike Hastings was an angry man after the game. His ire was directed at the rough-and-tumble Musketeers, who lead the United States Hockey League in all penalty-related categories.
"That team is dangerous," Hastings said. "It got to a point where I wondered if our guys were going to get off the ice without suffering broken arms."
Sioux City was whistled for 23 penalties, including 14 minor penalties for roughing. Even Musketeers' goalie Bryan Panik got into the act with two slashing penalties.
"There's a difference between physical hockey and undisciplined hockey," Hastings said. "That's two games in a row they've done that against us."
Omaha lost 3-2 in an overtime shootout last Sunday night at Sioux City. The Lancers were 1 for 12 on the power play that night and just 1 for 11 with the man advantage Friday night in front of 4,750 (5,475 paid) at Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum.
"At least we were getting opportunities tonight," Hastings said. "The way to stop a team from taking a lot of penalties is to make them pay for it by scoring goals, so we need to work on that."
Forward Dan Welch scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the first period. His shot from behind the net caromed off the skate of a Musketeers defenseman and into the net.
"I guess I'll take that one," Welch said. "I was just happy to see it go in."
Defenseman Keith Ballard scored his team-leading ninth goal on the power play two minutes later. He charged in from the blue line and rifled a shot past Panik.
A pair of second-year Lancers scored their first goals of the season later in the game. Forward Mike Neilon made it 3-0 early in the second period, and defenseman Jeremy Downs put a shot through traffic and into the net midway through the third period.
Fraser's toughest saves came early in the second period and late in the third period. He stopped a breakaway by Trent Mozak before salvaging the shutout with a glove save on Matt Ciancio in the closing seconds.
The Omaha goalie was called on to make just three saves in the first period, six in the second and seven in the third. Panik, who suffered his first loss in three starts, made 26 saves for the Musketeers.
The win boosted Omaha's record to 6-4-2, while Sioux City dropped to 5-7. The Lancers return to action tonight at 7:05 against the visiting Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
NOTES: Omaha's scheduled road game next Friday night against the Tri-City Storm has been postponed because the new arena in Kearney is not ready. The game has been tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 12. ... Hastings said Omaha forward Aaron Slattengren was taken for X-rays after suffering a slash on his arm late in the game. ... The Lancers will be without defenseman Bryce Lampman tonight. The University of Nebraska at Omaha recruit was assessed a major fighting penalty with 4:59 left in the game, and USHL rules call for a one-game suspension if a major is assessed in the final 5 minutes. ... The two busiest people at Ak-Sar-Ben Friday night? Referee Karl Olm and Bryan Maher, the off-ice official in charge of opening and closing the visitors' penalty-box door.
