Lancers' Five-Goal Burst Beats Des Moines"
BY MIKE PATTERSON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
******************************************************
The Omaha Lancers capped their three-game week with an exclamation point Saturday night against the Des Moines Buccaneers.
Make that a couple of exclamation points.
The Lancers scored five first-period goals and rolled to a 10-2 win over the usually tough Buccaneers. It was Omaha's third win in four days, following victories over Tri-City and Dubuque.
"By far that was our best first period this season," Omaha Coach Mike Hastings said. "It was nice to see the puck finding the back of the net when we got the opportunities."
There were several offensive stars for the Lancers, who scored 10 goals for the first time since a 12-1 victory over Twin-Cities on Feb. 27, 1999. Forward Dan Welch led the way with a hat trick and one assist.
"I thought when we put three goals on the board early they kind of collapsed," Welch said. "We were pretty pumped coming in and we weren't going to let up because we blew a three-goal lead against them in the (preseason) Buc Bowl."
The Buccaneers (12-4-1) appeared as though they were still reeling from a 5-2 home loss Friday night against Lincoln. Des Moines entered the final period of that game tied 2-2 but gave up three straight third-period goals.
"We don't have any excuses," said Buccaneers Coach Tom Carroll. "Omaha was hitting on all cylinders and we just didn't have it."
Omaha forward Yan Stastny opened the scoring barrage 1:12 into the first period, wristing a high shot past Des Moines goalie Mike Mantua. At that point, the Ak-Sar-Ben crowd of 4,310 (4,826 paid) had no idea Stastny's goal would be the first of 10 Saturday night.
Welch scored a pair of goals to stretch Omaha's advantage to 3-0. He snapped a shot past Mantua for his first goal and then took a nice centering pass from defenseman Jason Krischuk to score on the power play.
Forward Riley Riddell made it 4-0 with 4:09 left in the period, using a burst of speed to slip past Des Moines forward Stefan Bjurstrom and score while Omaha was shorthanded. Riddell added an unassisted goal with 1:16 left in the period, sending Mantua to the bench in favor of reserve goalie Paul Morrissey.
"After winning our last two, we came into this game with some good karma," Riddell said. "We were really able to capitalize on some of their mistakes."
The Lancers kept the heat on in the second period, scoring twice in the first minute. Welch capped off his hat trick by putting a shot past Morrissey and Dan Hacker scored his third of the season just 14 seconds later.
The Buccaneers spoiled goalie Ray Fraser's bid for his fourth shutout of the season by scoring on the power play with 12:34 left in the period. Fraser made one save but was powerless to stop a rebound try by Bjurstrom.
Des Moines added another goal three minutes later to draw within 7-2, but Omaha responded with three more goals in the final 10 minutes of the period. Krischuk, Jake Fleming and Jim Dahl scored to give Omaha a 10-2 advantage entering the final period.
"I liked the way we bounced back from a little adversity the past few games," Hastings said. "We gave up a couple of goals and then came right back and scored less than a minute after that."
The two teams battled through a scoreless third period.
"This was a very nice three-game stretch for us," Hastings said. "The guys can enjoy it tonight and then we'll get back to work."
The 10-4-3 Lancers have a tough road stretch ahead. Omaha plays at Tri-City on Friday and at Sioux Falls on Saturday before traveling to Des Moines on Sunday for a rematch with the Buccaneers.
Des Moines 0 2 0 - 2
Omaha 5 5 0 - 10
First period - Scoring: 1, Omaha, Stastny (Hacker), 1:12. 2, Omaha, Welch (Fleming, Thomas), 3:49. 3, Omaha, Welch (Krischuk), power play, 12:24. 4, Omaha, Riddell (Green), shorthanded, 15:51. 5, Omaha, Riddell (unassisted), 18:44. Penalties: O, Harrington (holding), 5:29. DM, Irwin (elbowing), 9:58. DM, Baumgartner (roughing), 11:24. O, Ballard (holding), 15:28.
Second period - Scoring: 6, Omaha, Welch (Fleming), :36. 7, Omaha, Hacker (Riddell), :50. 8, Des Moines, (Bjurstrom), Tomaino, Chiodo, power play, 7:26. 9, Des Moines, Langdon (Chiodo), Bjurstrom), 10:24. 10, Omaha, Krischuk (Thomas), 10:46. 11, Omaha, Fleming (Welch), 12:12. 12, Omaha, Dahl (McWilliams, Ronkowski), power play, 19:01. Penalties: DM, Jernberg (5 fighting), 2:26. DM, Leach (5 fighting, game misconduct), 2:26. DM, Carlson (delay), 2:26. O, Neilon (5 fighting, game misconduct), 2:26. O, Lampman (delay), 2:26. O, Dahl (5 fighting), 2:26. O, Downs (holding), 6:21. DM, Jernberg (cross checking), 18:42.
Third period - Scoring: None. Penalties: O, Ronkowski (check from behind), 2:30. DM, Chiodo (roughing), 6:14. O, Krischuk (roughing), 6:14. DM, Klema (slashing), 12:57. DM, Martensson (interference), 17:45.
Shots on goal:
Des Moines 7 7 5-19
Omaha 10 17 5-32
Goalies: Des Moines, Mantua (5 saves), Morrissey (17 saves); Omaha, Fraser (17 saves)
Power-play conversions: Des Moines, 1-4; Omaha, 2-5
A - 4,310 (4,826 paid).
Go Home
