OXFORD, Ohio - Jarod Palmer was having a typical Palmer-like season until the last couple of weeks.
He scored some goals. He dished for a bunch of assists. He played great defense. He dazzled everyone with stickhandling.
But in the last four games, the senior forward has kicked his offense into a gear that would amaze Ferrari engineers.
Palmer recorded a goal and two assists as No. 1 Miami beat Nebraska-Omaha, 6-2 on Friday to extend the RedHawks' conference unbeaten streak to 23 games (19-0-4).
Miami senior Jarod Palmer (Cathy White/CNATI.com).
Palmer, who was named first star of the game, scored the first goal of the game less than two minutes in when a shot from the blueline deflected in off a defenseman's stick.
The Mavericks tied the score midway through the opening period on a wrist shot by sophomore forward Alex Hudson that beat Miami sophomore goalie Cody Reichard through the five hole.
Less than three minutes later, Miami senior forward Brandon Smith grabbed a loose puck deep in the Nebraska-Omaha zone and beat freshman goalie John Faulkner between the legs for his third goal in two games.
A one-timer from Hudson beat Reichard with less than five minutes remaining in the first stanza to tie the score again, 2-2.
But Miami (23-4-6) took control in the final two periods.
Junior forward Justin Vaive tipped in a shot by sophomore defenseman Will Weber five minutes into the middle stanza for his first goal since Dec. 5.
Palmer dished to junior center Pat Cannone, whose shot deflected in off Faulkner to extend Miami's lead to two later in the period.
Palmer set up another goal early in the third period, redirecting a hard pass from junior center Carter Camper down low to freshman forward Reilly Smith, who jabbed it past Faulkner to make it 5-2.
Sophomore forward Trent Vogelhuber added an empty netter in the final minute.
Nebraska-Omaha (16-13-6) generated 11 shots in the first period, but was held to 10 the rest of the way.
Palmer extended his points streak to eight games, the longest by a RedHawk this season. He has four consecutive three-point games, recording four goals and eight assists in that span.
No other Miamian has notched three or more points in back-to-back games, much less four straight.
Also on Friday, Palmer broke his previous career-best point total of 35, which he set in 2007-08. He now leads the team in goals (15), points (38), plus-minus (24), and is tied for the Miami lead in assists (23) and game-winning goals (5).
In addition to its impressive conference unbeaten streak, Miami has now gone 11 games without a loss (10-0-1) and has won eight straight.
Nebraska-Omaha is winless in its last 12 meetings with Miami.
ANALYSIS (I've decided that term sounds better than "bottom line"): The amazing thing about Palmer's game is he could've easily had five points or more.
Miele fired a one-time from Palmer off the post, and Palmer's best pass of the night - a behind-the-back no-look feed to Reilly Smith, who was skating laterally toward the net - also resulted in a shot that grazed off the post.
We're witnessing an amazing metamorphosis in Palmer, a great player who has elevated his game even further. He has taken the team on his back a la Ryan Jones in the 2007-08 stretch run.
Another indirectly good aspect of Miami's offense is Camper and junior Tommy Wingels haven't done that much recently despite the RedHawks' offensive outburst. Those two are way too good to slow down for long, and it's great to see Miami scoring tons of goals without those two contributing.
Miami was sloppy in the first period. The defense wasn't clicking, the team overall committed too many turnovers, and Reichard would've liked to have had the first UNO goal back.
I personally think the freelance style Miami played during those two 10-goal games got the players into some bad habits.
But after the first 20 minutes, the RedHawks were all business in their own end.
GRADES
FORWARDS: A. Easy call there. The four lines tallied 38 shots, scored all six goals and dished for five of Miami's nine assists.
The Palmer-Miele-Reilly Smith line was the best on the ice, and the fourth line of freshmen Devin Mantha and Steve Mason with senior Brandon Smith was great in a small sample.
DEFENSEMEN: A-. UNO only managed 21 shots on goal, and 10 in the final two periods. A little sloppy in the first period but much improved after.
Freshman Joe Hartman was named second star of the game and had his first collegiate two-assist game.
GOALTENDING: B. Two goals on 21 shots isn't bad, but Miami fans are spoiled because Reichard has been unbeatable all season.
The first goal he should've stopped, and the second was on a one-timer on a 5-on-3, and he may have been a little slow getting over to the far post, but ultimately Reichard wasn't to blame for goal No. 2.
Reichard also made several excellent saves.
LINEUP CHANGES: Sophomore Alden Hirschfeld's one-game suspension for his fighting major last Saturday at Bowling Green opened up one forward spot for coach Enrico Blasi, and he went with Mason instead of senior Gary Steffes.
Mason picked up an assist on the Brandon Smith goal, giving him two helpers in five games this season.
Mantha played in his fourth straight game, and Brandon Smith has suited up in five consecutive games and his recent goal-scoring outburst is making it difficult for Blasi to bench him.
Freshman Steven Spinell played in second straight game on the blueline, and sophomore Matt Tomassoni was scratched for the second in a row.
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