Following an unexpected weekend off due to a schedule change, the Mavericks were back in action on home ice this past weekend as they hosted Great Lakes division rivals, the Lake Erie Bighorns. As the Mavs head down the home stretch toward the playoffs, they looked to solidify their third place position in the division standings.

The weekend kicked off with a Friday night matchup against the visiting Bighorns. And while the Bighorns have had their struggles this season, they had no plans of going down without a fight. After a nearly scoreless first period, Mavs forward, Anton Petrovskiy opened the scoring with a goal inside the final minute, assisted by Tyler Isherwood and Kevin Uhlir. The second period looked to be another low scoring affair as neither team was able to put the puck in the net until past the half-way point, when the Mavericks’ Kevin Uhlir added his name to the goal column with an assist from Tyler Isherwood. Not wanting to miss out on the action, Mavericks’ defenseman, Ryan Lempicki, buried his first of two goals on the night with assists from Jaxson Gillespie and Jackson Balemian to give the home team a 3-0 advantage going into the final period of play.

After yet another low scoring, defensive battle of a period, recent acquisition, and former Bighorns captain, Dominic Conte, tallied his first goal (unassisted) in a Mavericks uniform at the 17:28 mark. As the third period drew to a close and the Bighorns tried desperately to break the Mavericks’ shutout bid, Ryan Lempicki put the game on ice, scoring his second goal of the day with assists from Jackson Balemian and Bailey Doust.

Frank Murphy got the start in net for the Mavericks and the young net minder picked up his third shutout of the year, stopping all 22 shots he faced.

The two teams were back in action on Saturday afternoon as the Mavs looked to secure the weekend and series sweep, while the visiting Bighorns looked to avenge the previous nights loss. Despite a strong defensive effort, the Mavericks would again draw first blood as Ryan Mackey scored his third goal of the season at the 15:09 mark, assisted by Dominic Conte and Ryan Lempicki. Bailey Doust would extend the Mavericks’ lead to two goals with just seconds remaining in the first period with a helper from Roman Boffa.

Not going down quietly, the Bighorns would strike first in the second period, scoring what would end up being their only goal of the weekend, at the 6:01 mark. The Mavs would quickly bounce back; however, as Bailey Doust capitalized on a loose puck in front of the net to score his second goal of the game at the 10:50 mark in the second period, assisted by Chance Settles and Roman Boffa. In a period that saw plenty of special teams play on both sides of the puck, the score would remain 3-1 at the end of the second period.

As the third period opened, the Mavericks’ Jadon Beard would score the team’s final goal of the game, his 10th goal of the season, at the 5:51 mark, assisted by Dominic Conte and Eric Podgorny. Despite several attempts at a comeback, the Mavs defense would stand strong and the home team would emerge victorious by a final score of 5-1.

Zach Waizmann got the start in net for the Mavericks and turned in a strong performance, stopping 28 of 29 shots in the contest to pick up his 10th win of the season.

The Mavericks now prepare for a busy week ahead as they travel to Lockport, NY to take on the Buffalo Stampede this Wednesday and Thursday, followed by their third road game of the week on Sunday as they travel to Heritage Bank Center to take on the Cincinnati Cyclones. You can catch all of the away game action live on HockeyTV.com.