Nebraska-Omaha launched 47 shots on goal and Dan Ellis registered his sixth career shutout as the Mavericks claimed a 3-0 win over Lake Superior State Saturday, finishing their first road sweep of the season.
“A lot of positive things came out of this weekend,” UNO head coach Mike Kemp said. “We played excellent defensively and earned our second road shutout of the season. The 47 shots tonight were the most all season and I feel the team is buying into the system of getting good offense by playing good defense.”
The Mavericks (7-7-2, 5-5-0 CCHA) followed up on Friday’s 4-1 win over the Lakers (3-13-0, 0-12-0), who remained winless in the CCHA, by outshooting them 47-22 in front of 1,888 at Taffy Abel Arena.
Scott Turner gave the Mavericks the early lead when he scored off a rebound when UNO was on a 5-on-3 power play. Seconds earlier, while UNO had a man advantage, David Brisson nearly scored but goaltender Matt Violin fell on the puck. Lake Superior State’s Ren Fauci was called for roughing on the scramble around the crease, creating the two-man advantage.
Andrew Wong drew the puck off the ensuing faceoff to Greg Zanon, who fired a shot that Violin saved. But Turner batted in the rebound at 5:40 for his third goal of the season.
Violin kept the Lakers in the game with saves on Wong and Anthony Adams on breakaways the first period, and on Wong again in the second when the junior forward was coming out of the penalty box and got free.
Zanon got his second assist and his 100th career point when his headman pass in the neutral zone set up speedy Adams on the left wing. Adams cut through the slot and backhanded his first goal of the year past Violin at 5:01 of the third period.
Wong finally did get a goal, although Violin was sitting on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker, when he slid the puck into the empty net with eight seconds left.
Ellis stopped all 21 Laker shots, and 51 of 52 for the weekend.
“The defense played great in front of me,” Ellis said. “I saw all the loose pucks and they kept things simple by keeping the front of the net clear.”
“I was pleased with the way we played,” Kemp said. “This is something that, hopefully, will give us a little bit of momentum going into next weekend.”
The two-game sweep extended the Mavericks’ unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1). UNO’s sweep became the Mavericks’ third road sweep of a CCHA team since joining the league in 1999.
Zanon had a hand in two of the three Maverick goals and four of the seven goals in the series and recorded his 100th career point as a Maverick. Zanon, a two-time All-American, is the first UNO defenseman to join the century club.
