Another team honors the Gaudreau brothers, while the Anderson Cup has a winner.
Here are some observations from Saturday night’s action around the USHL.
Lancers Honor Gaudreau Family
Tributes and special nights continued for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, the brothers who were killed in a biking accident last summer.
On Saturday, the Omaha Lancers honored the families of Johnny and Matthew prior to their game against the Dubuque Fighting Saints.
Matthew played for the Lancers from 2011-13. The brothers were hit by an alleged drunk driver while on their bikes in late August of last year.
“(Matthew) Gaudreau played with as big of a heart as the organization has ever seen; winning the hearts of thousands of Lancers fans,” the team said on its website. “The Gaudreau brothers were taken way too soon from us all. Most of all, we in the hockey community will continue to keep our thoughts and prayers for the Gaudreau family.”
Stars Win Anderson Cup
The Lincoln Stars are the Anderson Cup Champions after edging the Madison Capitols 4-3 in overtime Saturday night at Bob Suter’s Legacy20 Arena.
Dashel Oliver scored twice including 2:25 into the sudden-death period on a wrist shot from atop of the left circle for his fifth multi-goal game of the season to give the Stars their third overtime victory.
Lincoln (43-15-2-0) matched the 2000-01 (43-7-4-2) and 2001-02 (43-15-0-3) seasons for the most wins in a single season in their 29-season history. The Stars won the Anderson Cup for the fourth time in franchise history, joining the 1999-00, 2000-01 and 2002-03 seasons.
Lincoln also guaranteed that it will have home-ice advantage for the entire Clark Cup Playoffs in addition to a first-round bye.
Madison (38-17-4-1) tied the game up with 31.3 seconds left on a rebound goal by Jet Kwajah to force overtime. Neither team ever led by more than one goal.
The Stars ended the regular season 16-2 against Eastern Conference opponents. They conclude the regular season next weekend with a home-and-home set against the Tri-City Storm.
The Anderson Cup will be presented to the team after Friday's game at the Ice Box.
A 10-Minute Blitz
It was a scoreless game between the U.S. National Team Development Program Under 18s and the Waterloo Black Hawks until the second period, when the U18s left the Hawks behind in a 5-1 triumph at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.
The U18s exploded for four goals in the last 10 minutes of the second period. Sammy Nelson potted the first one at 10:28, capitalizing on a rush after LJ Mooney made it to the edge of the crease before dishing off a late pass.
Just 27 seconds later, the NTDP struck again; Landon Hafele dug a puck out behind the Waterloo net and brought it between the left circle and crease to put a shot under the crossbar.
Minutes later, a sequence which began with the Hawks on a two-man advantage ended with an NTDP shorthanded goal. Mikey Berchild came out ...
