Men's Ice Hockey 12/31/2022 12:26:00 AM

NEARLY FULL STRENGTH STARS TOP LANCERS

POSTGAME ARTICLE PRESENTED BY GREAT CLIPS

Tanner Ludtke scored a power-play goal in the first before adding another goal in the second to lead the Lincoln Stars to a 5-1 win over the Omaha Lancers on Friday night at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena.

Lincoln (16-8-1) scored three goals in the first period and went 2-for-2 on the power play against the top penalty-killing unit in the USHL entering Friday evening. Omaha (9-13-3-2) cut the deficit to one with the first goal of the second period but surrendered two more before the horn sounded on the frame.

Cameron Whitehead made 35 saves to record his fourth effort of at least 35 saves this season. He dealt with a cramp early on in the second but it didn't affect his play. Whitehead's finest stop came on a breakaway save nearly four minutes into the second period. After previously making a stop and in noticeable discomfort he recovered to deny Vincent Salice.

"I kind of just tweaked my hamstring and it was spazzing a bit during the game," Whitehead said. "During the tv timeout I took a few ibuprofen and felt better during the game. It's happened a few times before. It's pretty much mental, you can't let your mind think about the injury. It was a battle halfway through the game so I had to deal with it."

Cole Crusberg-Roseen, Patrick Raftery and Doug Grimes all returned from injury and Ludtke played his first game with the Stars since winning gold with USA Hockey at the World Junior A Challenge on Dec. 18. Three of the four players recorded at least one point and gave Lincoln a mostly full lineup. The only missing players, Klavs Veinbergs and Marian Mosko, are slated to suit up next weekend after participating in international competition.

"It's a huge bump for our locker room," head coach Rocky Russo said. "Not only did they play really well but some of that pressure comes off some of the other guys like Mesic, Mangan and Peters. All three of those guys had goals tonight. They don't have to feel the pressure and the weight of carrying the team. Those other guys take the ice and take the top pair away, give them some more opportunities against the bottom six and they end up having more success. It goes deeper than just having those guys back but obviously they're difference-makers on the ice and they're difference-makers on the bench and in the locker room. The vibe was just different on the bench today than it has been in over a month now."

Jared Mangan scored the games first goal at the 8:50 mark of the first. He used his leg to settle a cross-ice feed from Raftery before dangling to the goal line and sneaking the puck past netminder Michael Hrabal. Jimmy Jurcev picked up the secondary assist on the play to earn his first career USHL point.

Ludtke's first of the night came off perfect passing on their first power play of the game. Mason Marcellus drifted in from the boards to the top of the left circle and passed the puck to Grimes next to the crease on the far-post side. Grimes spun and delivered a no-look backhand pass to other side of the net and Ludtke one-timed the puck top shelf.

Lincoln's final goal of the first period came when Keaton Peters deflected a wrist shot from Henry Nelson from the far side of the ice to send the Stars into the locker room up three goals. Justin Stupka scored Omaha's lone goal of the evening at the 6:21 mark of the second off a feed from the side of the net by Will Diamond but the Stars quickly got the goal back. Doug Grimes forced a turnover at center ice to quickly spring Marcellus and Ludtke in the other direction on a breakaway. Marcellus stunned Hrabal by cutting to the net only to feed a wide-open Ludtke to his left and the Stars' center had a wide-open net to score his second of the night and fourth multi-goal game of the season.

Omaha won the immediate faceoff after the goal and after Whitehead made a save Diamond and Ludtke tangled up in the crease and both went to the box. The Stars got a power play from it and Michael Mesic, filling Ludtke's spot on the power play, scored his third goal and second of the season against the Lancers. Marcellus picked up his third assist of the game, matching a personal single-game high and moving him into first in the USHL in assists.

The Stars wrap up the 2022 calendar year on the road Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Tri-City Storm. It's the fourth time in the last five games that Lincoln will face Tri-City and the Stars have dropped two of the first three. Lincoln is 4-2-1 against Tri-City but is 1-2 at the Viaero Center.

"Our expectation is that we're going to go out and play really hard in a tough environment tomorrow," Russo said. "We know they'll be ready to play. They didn't play tonight. They got to sit and rest and watch us play. We owe them. They beat us in that building last time and we need to go back in there and be ready to play."

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