OXFORD, Ohio — Plain and simple, Miami did what No. 1 teams do.

Whenever the UNO hockey team made a mistake, the RedHawks made the Mavericks pay by putting the puck in the back of the net.

Jarod Palmer had a goal and two assists Friday night, lifting top-ranked Miami to a convincing 6-2 win over the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The Mavericks were hoping they might catch the RedHawks on a night when they took their foot off the gas, but Miami again showed why it’s been so dominant this season against the CCHA.

“The better team won,” said UNO coach Dean Blais. “We just got outplayed, and we got what we deserved.”

The RedHawks ran their unbeaten streak against the Mavs to 12 consecutive games (11-0-1), and they are now undefeated in their past 23 games against the CCHA. Miami, which already had clinched the conference’s regular-season championship, is a remarkable 19-0-4 against the league since late October.

“This team is focused on just one day at a time,” said RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi. “You go out there and play hard and you leave it all on the ice. It’s going to be really hard if you take some weeks off and try to turn it on again. You gotta keep the pressure on.”

The Mavs entered the game riding a 6-1-1 surge in the past eight games, including a hard-earned sweep over Michigan last weekend. But Blais said his team appeared to run out of steam, and he was critical of the way most of his forwards failed to show up for Friday’s game.

Miami outshot UNO 45-21, including 29-10 during the final two periods. It was a frustrating and flat finish for the Mavs, who played Miami to a 2-2 tie in the opening period on Alex Hudson’s 10th and 11th goals of the season.

“I didn’t think we battled as hard as we have been — it was almost like we ran out of emotion,” Blais said. “The last month, we’ve done real well. You only have so much of that in you, and we’ve used up a lot of it. I knew that would be coming, I just didn’t think it would be tonight.”

Palmer gave Miami a quick 1-0 lead 1:41 into the game when his long shot took some odd bounces into the net past UNO goalie John Faulkner, who appeared to be screened on the play.

Hudson answered at 9:17 of the first. He took the puck at center ice immediately after the Mavs had killed a penalty and snapped a shot past Miami goaltender Cody Reichard.

The RedHawks’ Brandon Smith made it 2-1 just 2:32 later by pouncing on a puck that got lost in UNO defenseman Mike Phillippi’s skates right in front of Faulkner’s net. Then at 15:26 of the first, Hudson took a pass from Eddie Del Grosso and blasted in a shot from the slot during a Mavs’ 5-on-3 man advantage.

But the RedHawks outshot UNO 14-5 in the second period and went up 4-2 on goals by Justin Vaive and Pat Cannone. Vaive deflected in a shot from the point at 4:53 before Cannone scored at 13:11 on a goal-mouth scramble during a Miami 5-on-3 power play.

At 4:25 of the third, Reilly Smith made it 5-2 Miami when he got lost behind UNO’s defense and slipped in a shot while standing all alone on Faulkner’s doorstep.

With a three-goal lead, Miami then spent the final 15 minutes of regulation making sure the Mavs wouldn’t be mounting any comebacks. The RedHawks goaded UNO into taking some costly penalties, with both Matt Ambroz and Brandon Richardson exiting the game early.

Ambroz, who will be able to play in tonight’s 6:05 series finale, got slapped for a 10-minute misconduct when he grabbed Tommy Wingels’ facemask. Wingels was whistled for a less serious unsportsmanlike conduct penalty — apparently for chirping at UNO’s bench.

After Trent Vogelhuber buried an empty netter for the RedHawks at 19:16 of the third, Richardson and Miami’s Will Weber got mixed up in a scuffle near the end of the game. Richardson was disqualified after throwing a punch, meaning he’ll have to sit out tonight’s game.

“Tomorrow’s a new day,” Hudson said. “We’re going to put this one behind us, come back out tomorrow, and just play as hard as we can.”

UNO (16-13-6, 12-12-3-2).................2 0 0—2

Miami (23-4-6, 20-1-4-2)........................2 2 2—6

First period: 1, Miami, Palmer 15 (LoVerde), 1:41. 2, UNO, Hudson 10 (Del Grosso, Olimb), 9:17. 3, Miami, B. Smith 6 (Mason, Mantha), 11:49. 4, UNO, Hudson 11 (Del Grosso), 15:26 (pp).

Second period: 5, Miami, Vaive 4 (Weber, Hartman), 4:53. 6, Miami, Cannone 10 (Palmer, Hartman), 13:11 (pp).

Third period: 7, Miami, R. Smith 8 (Palmer, Camper), 4:25. 8, Miami, Vogelhuber 5 (unassisted), 19:16 (en).

Shots on goal:

UNO..................11 5 5—21

Miami..............16 14 15—45

Power plays: UNO 1 for 3; Miami 1 for 6.

Penalties-minutes: UNO 10-34; Miami 7-14.

Goalies: UNO, Faulkner (44 shots, 39 saves, 59:37); Miami, Reichard (21 shots, 19 saves, 59:25).

Three stars: 1, Palmer. 2, Hartman. 3, Hudson.

Attendance: 2,964.

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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