OMAHA, Neb. – The USHL’s best Omaha Lancers (21-4-3) scored five power play goals en route to an 8-3 win over the Tri-City Storm (8-17-2) at the Ralston Arena on Friday night.
Tri-City was led by forward Christian Horn, who scored two power play goals and picked up an assist in the loss. Forward Joel L’Esperance and defenseman Nolan Gluchowski each had two assists apiece for the Storm.
In a game that had a total of eight power play goals, the Lancers took an early lead when their leading scorer Jake Randolph scored his thirteenth goal of the season at 3:30 of the opening period and never trailed.
Randolph finished the game with two goals and three assists, adding his second tally of the night at 11:25of the second frame. His center Tyler Vesel also finished with five points on the night, scoring a goal and assisting on four others. Vesel’s league-leading 23rd tally was the final mark of the game, coming at 5:02of the third period.
All three Storm goals came with the man-advantage, and Tri-City finished the night 3-for-7 on the power play.
Horn got his first of the night halfway through the opening frame when he used a screen from forward Austin Poganski and beat Omaha goaltender Hayden Hawkey. Both L’Esperance and Gluchowski had assists on the Storm’s first goal of the night.
The Plymouth, Minn. native got his second goal of the game five minutes into the second period, this time scoring on a pass from Poganski. Gluchowski picked up the second assist on Tri-City’s second mark of the game. Horn now has eight goals and 10 assists in 20 games this season.
Poganski had the final Storm goal of the night, his seventh of the season. The St. Cloud, Minn. product took advantage of a shot by L’Esperance that had been deflected by Horn, and was able to knock the puck past Hawkey just 33 seconds into the third period.
Other goal scorers for the Lancers included forwards Brian Williams, Ryan Tait and Gage Hough, who had two tallies, as well as defenseman Tucker Poolman.
Hawkey made 17 saves for the Lancers for the win, while Tri-City’s Hayden Lavigne saw 34 shots, making 26 saves.
Omaha outshot the Storm 34-20 on the night.
Tri-City now returns home for a matchup with the Sioux Falls Stampede on Saturday night at the Viaero Event Center. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.
Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Nick Hutchison, Joey DiBenedetto and Kyle Eastman, along with defenseman Cutler Martin.…
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
Omaha – Jake Randolph (Tyler Vesel, Gage Hough) 3:30
Omaha – Brian Williams (Louie Rowe) 5:59
Tri-City – Christian Horn (power play) (Joel L’Esperance, Nolan Gluchowski) 10:30
Omaha – Ryan Tait (power play) (Luca Frigo, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson) 12:32
Omaha – Gage Hough (Tyler Vesel) 17:41
2nd Period
Omaha – Gage Hough (power play) (Tucker Poolman, Jake Randolph) 0:23
Omaha – Tucker Poolman (power play) (Jake Randolph, Tyler Vesel) 2:48
Tri-City – Christian Horn (power play) (Austin Poganski, Nolan Gluchowski) 5:03
Omaha – Jake Randolph (power play) (Anthony Angello, Tyler Vesel) 11:25
3rd Period
Tri-City – Austin Poganski (power play) (Christian Horn, Joel L’Esperance) 0:33
Omaha – Tyler Vesel (power play) (Steven Johnson, Jake Randolph) 5:02
PENALTIES
1st Period
Omaha – Louie Rowe – (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 2 min, 5:59
Tri-City – Garrett Cecere – (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 2 min, 5:59
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Tripping), 2 min, 6:46
Omaha – Connor Light – (Tripping), 2 min, 9:54
Tri-City – Patrick Curry – (Head Contact), 2 min, 11:04
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Head Contact), 5 min, 14:35
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Head Contact) (Game Ejection), 10 min, 14:35
Omaha – Jimmy Schuldt – (Fighting (Instigator)), 2 min, 14:35
Omaha – Jimmy Schuldt – (Fighting), 5 min, 14:35
Omaha – Jimmy Schuldt – (Fighting) (Game Ejection), 10 min, 14:35
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Fighting), 5 min, 14:35
Omaha – Jake Randolph – (Slashing), 2 min, 17:06
Tri-City – Joel L’Esperance – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 19:22
2nd Period
Tri-City – Chase Berger – (Interference), 2 min, 2:13
Omaha – Matt Nelson – (High Sticking), 2 min, 3:59
Omaha – Anthony Angello – (Roughing), 2 min, 9:18
Tri-City – Nolan Aibel – (High Sticking), 2 min, 9:27
Tri-City – Christian Horn – (Holding), 2 min, 16:23
Omaha – Luca Frigo – (Hooking), 2 min, 18:56
3rd Period
Tri-City – Kevin Kerr – (Tripping), 2 min, 4:20
Omaha – Connor Light – (Hooking), 2 min, 5:45
Omaha – Tucker Poolman – (Hooking), 2 min, 7:55
Tri-City – Dan Labosky – (Checking From Behind), 2 min, 12:58
Tri-City – Dan Labosky – (Checking From Behind) (Misconduct), 10 min, 12:58
Omaha – Connor Light – (Boarding), 2 min, 15:58
Power Play
Tri-City – 3/7
Omaha – 5/8
Shots
Tri-City: 5, 9, 6 = Total: 20
Omaha: 9, 14, 11 = Total: 34
Saves
Tri-City – Hayden Lavigne – 26/34
Omaha – Hayden Hawkey – 17/20