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OMAHA, Neb. – While sporting a perfect nonconference record has been the most talked about badge for Omaha, coming into Friday the Mavericks were also perfect at home since opening Baxter Arena last October. Feeling due for some magic of their own, Denver came into Omaha with a mission to play spoiler.
With back-to-back goals early in the opening period and a third one in the second, No. 17 Denver shut out No. 6 Omaha. It was the Pioneers’ first win since Nov. 21 at Wisconsin, and it was the first time the Mavericks have been shut out all season.
“I thought we played good in spurts, but our four losses we haven’t scored the first goal,” Omaha coach Dean Blais said. “So evidently this team’s got to figure out if they get behind how to come back.”
Denver goaltender Tanner Jaillet finished the game with 35 saves and the rest of the Pioneers capitalized with three scores on just 19 shots.
At 3:57 in the first period, Colin Staub fed Will Butcher, who was standing wide open left of the net, for the game’s first score. Then 19 seconds later, Blake Hillman stunned the Mavericks and their 6,177 fans when he took the puck past the blue line, weaving through the Mavericks defense before poking the puck under goaltender Evan Weninger to make it 2-0.
It was not only the first time UNO has ever allowed the first goal of the game at home this season, but ever trailed inside Baxter Arena. The second goal came on Denver’s third shot, a change in puck luck that had not been in the Pioneers’ favor for much of the season before tonight.
“Well I do think it’s about time that something like that happens, because even when we were 7-3-2, we probably had two losses and one tie and we probably deserved a lot better fate and things went against us,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “Whereas tonight, that’s the first time I can say, besides the Minnesota-Duluth tie we got, where we were very fortunate, that we were fortunate tonight. Where we weren’t the better team and got results.”
The first wasn’t a cupcake period for the Pioneers. UNO threw 12 shots on net while Denver only had two more on target following Hillman’s goal, for five on the period.
Shortly after Denver’s pair of goals, Weninger left the game for the locker room with a lower body injury. Junior Kirk Thompson replaced him.
In the second, the same trend continued. UNO tallied 17 shots on goal in the period, yet it was the Pioneers who found the back of the net.
A little more than four minutes into the period, the Mavericks stormed down the ice, jumping on a fortunate bounce off the official’s skate near the penalty box that sent the puck into Denver’s zone, but the Pioneers weathered the attack and on the counter Butcher sniped a shot from the left wing that dinged off the left-corner post and in to make it 3-0.
Seeing both short-handed flurries and five penalty kills, Denver’s goaltender Tanner Jaillet put on an acrobatic display, making save after save as the Mavericks hunted for their first score throughout the game to no avail.
“Nebraska-Omaha I thought was a much better team than we were and I thought Tanner Jaillet was the first star of the game,” Montgomery said. “We can’t expect our goaltender to win us games like he did tonight.”
The Mavericks are now 8-1 at Baxter Arena. Similar to starting the season 6-0, it was a matter of time before the home streak would snap in what ended a sweet start in a new facility.
“We knew we weren’t going to go undefeated at home, but it was sure nice doing what we did,” Blais said. “Putting that streak together and certainly the fans. It’s good to be at home, you have to take advantage of it.”
For Denver, Friday night delivered a much-needed win that is sure to boost the confidence of the Pioneers going forward.
“It’s huge; I mean, the respect we have for Nebraska-Omaha, how great a team they are, and how well they’re coached, for us to be the first ones to come in here and get a win, I mean it’s got to make our players feel real good,” Montgomery said. “Because last weekend, we played real good hockey and didn’t get rewarded with W’s.”
