[Box Score]
OMAHA, Neb. —
Scott Greenham (Addison, ON, Oakville (OPJHL)) provided the best proof Friday night that the Alaska Nanooks benefited from their three-week break for the holidays.
The sophomore goaltender registered a single-game, career-high 41 saves and survived five of six power plays to secure a 3-1 victory against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in the opener of the final Central Collegiate Hockey Association series between the teams.
Greenham reaped mental benefits from the break which began after Alaska lost 5-3 to Nebraska-Omaha at the Carlson Center on Dec. 13. Alaska beat the Mavericks 4-3 the night before.
“My mental game, I thought, was strong at the beginning of the year and then it kind of faded off as the season went on,” Greenham said outside the Nanooks' locker room in the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha. “I feel mentally strong again, and I think that's a big difference.”
Greenham has backstopped every minute of every regular-season game this season for the Nanooks, who improved their fourth-place record to 7-5-3-3 CCHA and 10-5-4 overall. He had a 1.14 goals against average following a sweep of Ferris State in Alaska's conference opener on Oct. 30-31 at the Carlson Center. He saw it drop to 2.58 after the December split with Nebraska-Omaha.
On Friday, he saw a season-high 42 shots from the Mavericks, including odd-man rushes and a point-blank shot from right wing J.J. Koehler at 14:41 of the first period, with Alaska leading 1-0 after freshman right wing
Andy Taranto's (Woodridge, IL, Fargo (USHL)) goal at 51 seconds into the contest.
“I thought he was tracking the puck really well,” Alaska head coach
Dallas Ferguson said. “For most part, there was a lot of stuff in tight, a lot of pucks getting to the net and a lot of bodies getting to the net.
“When that's happening, it's important for the goaltender to track the puck.”
Greenham allowed only a game-tying power-play goal by Mavericks sophomore center Alex Hudson amid a crowd in front of the crease at 17:31 of the second period.
Head coach Dean Blais, for whom it also was a celebratory night, said he thought Greenham made the difference for the Nanooks against his Mavericks, who, despite a 42-21 advantage in shots, dropped to 5-8-2-1 CCHA and 9-9-5 overall for an eighth-place tie with idle Northern Michigan.
“He made great saves; there was not a lot of rebounds,” said Blais, who was returning from coaching Team USA to the gold medal in the World Junior Championship in Saskatchewan. “We had traffic at the net, we missed some open nets and we didn't get any real puck luck tonight out of 66 attempts.”
Defense helped the Nanooks generate their fortune, leading to a two-goal third period with freshman left wing
Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, AB, Sherwood Park (AJHL)) power-play deposit at 4:23 and senior linemate and center
Dion Knelsen's marker at 18:01 from an errant pass in the neutral zone that bounced off the back of Mavericks center Jeric Agosta's skate.
In the third period, the Nanooks returned to the forechecking and backchecking that helped them sustain a 1-0 lead for the remaining 19 minutes, 9 seconds of the first period. Alaska also tightened its neutral zone coverage in the final period.
“Coach came in (the locker room) in the second intermission and reminded us to work smarter and not be so aggressive running around there,” said Knelsen. “I think we were a little more controlled and it worked to our advantage.”
Yaremchuk broke the 1-1 tie on Alaska's fourth of five power plays. Defenseman
Joe Sova centered a pass to Taranto in front of the crease and the puck deflected onto Yaremchuk's stick, leading the freshman to sneak a low backhand by the glove side of Mavericks goaltender John Faulkner.
Besides breaking the deadlock in the game, it snapped a 9-9-5 tie in Omaha in the series. Alaska also leads the series overall at 22-15-11 heading into Saturday's finale.
