The final weekend of the regular season delivered exactly what the Mavericks needed.
Omaha split its two-game series with Miami (Ohio) at Baxter Arena, winning Friday night 5-3 before falling 4-2 on Saturday. Combined with Arizona State’s loss to Denver, the Mavericks secured the final NCHC playoff spot and finished the regular season eighth in the conference standings.
Omaha now turns its attention to the NCHC quarterfinals, where the Mavericks will travel to face regular-season champion North Dakota in a best-of-three series.
Friday: Mavericks Surge in Third Period to Stay Alive
Facing a must-win situation, Omaha delivered one of its most complete efforts of the season Friday night.
The Mavericks controlled much of the play and outshot Miami 38-24, including a dominant 17-4 advantage in the second period.
Omaha opened the scoring late in the first period when Jacob Slipec carried the puck through the neutral zone and found Cam Mitchell alone in front. Mitchell beat Miami goaltender Matteo Drobac with 1:44 remaining in the period for his second goal of the season.
The Mavericks extended the lead early in the second period on the power play. Jeremy Loranger fired a shot from the point that Tyler Rollwagen redirected past Drobac at 6:15, giving Omaha a 2-0 advantage.
Miami answered late in the period with a power-play goal from Matteo Giampa to cut the lead to 2-1 heading into the third.
The RedHawks tied the game just 1:43 into the third period when Giampa scored his second goal of the night.
But Omaha quickly regained control.
Less than three minutes later, Brett Hyland restored the Mavericks’ lead when he finished a play set up by Samuel Huo and Jacob Guevin. Just over three minutes after that, Guevin ripped a power-play goal from the faceoff circle to push the lead to 4-2.
Miami made things interesting late when Casper Nassen scored with 37.5 seconds remaining after the RedHawks pulled their goalie.
Any suspense ended moments later.
Slipec sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining.
Simon Latkoczy finished with 21 saves in the win.
Saturday: Game Ends in Loss, but Postseason Secured
Saturday’s regular-season finale was far more chaotic.
The teams combined for 96 penalty minutes in a chippy game that included a large scrum late in the second period.
Miami opened the scoring six minutes into the game on a power-play goal from Shaun McEwen.
Omaha answered midway through the first period when Marcus Nguyen scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season on a play started by Samuel Huo.
The RedHawks responded just 47 seconds later, as Matteo Giampa beat Latkoczy to restore Miami’s lead.
The Mavericks pulled even again in the second period when Myles Hilman drove along the boards and slipped a shot past Drobac for his fifth goal of the season.
The game remained tied until late in the second period when Ilia Morozov scored with 1:39 remaining to give Miami a 3-2 lead.
Omaha pushed for the equalizer late in the third period and pulled Latkoczy for the extra attacker, but McEwen scored from his own end of the ice with 1:47 remaining to seal the 4-2 Miami victory.
The Big Picture: Mavericks Still Clinch Playoff Spot
Despite Saturday’s loss, Omaha still got the result it needed.
Arizona State fell to Denver later in the evening, allowing the Mavericks to hold onto eighth place in the NCHC standings with 24 points.
That result officially sent Omaha to the conference playoffs.
The Mavericks will now travel to Grand Forks for a best-of-three quarterfinal series against North Dakota as postseason play begins next weekend.
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