The Lindenwood men's ACHA division II ice hockey team defeated the DePaul University Blue Demons by way of an 8-0 shutout Saturday night at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Arguably the Lions most dominate performance of the season, Lindenwood controlled play from the drop of the puck until the final horn sounded.

Stanley Lucas got the scoring started for the Lions 2:32 into the first period when he put his 18th puck in the back of the net off feeds from Ryan Granville and Adam Rischbieter. A DePaul slashing penalty gave the Lions their first power play opportunity to which Chase McClellan and the Lions capitalized at 7:11. Jack Louko and Nolan Kahl each picked up assists on McClellan's seventh tally of the season. The Lions dominated in offensive zone time in the first period, putting 21 shots on goal to Demons three and taking a 2-0 lead into the locker room.

The second period saw the Lions put another 21 pucks on net, this time for a three-goal reward. The first goal came while on the penalty kill when Lindenwood forward, Brett Bell, netted his first goal of the season off a pass from Praveen Dhaliwal at 3:13. Bell's shorty was the Lions second straight game with a short-handed goal. At 5:07, Austin Meers lit the lamp for the 16th time, extending the Lions lead to 4-0. Meers' linemates, Louko and Nick Jones, picked up assists on the play. The Lions went back on the powerplay at 8:29 and scored their fifth goal of the night thanks to Louko and Gage Vierzba finding Zac Maupin for his 12th tally of the year. The Lions defense only allowed one shot on goal in the second frame and led 5-0 after two periods of play.

Once again, the Lions dominated in puck possession and offensive zone time and made a little history in the process. The Lions scored three goals in 30 seconds starting at 8:16 with Adam Rischbieter's fifth of the year. 20 seconds later, Rischbieter found Vierzba who scored his 13th and made it 7-0 Lindenwood. The Lions eighth and final goal came 10 seconds later off the stick of Maupin who tucked home his second goal of the game and 13th of the season. Kahl and Gavin Delfosse added assists on Maupin's tally. The eighth goal was all the DePaul bench boss could take as he made a goalie change. The new Demons goaltender made eight saves, but it was to no avail. The Lions outshot the Demons 21-4 in the third period, finishing the game with a season-high 63 shots on goal and the 8-0 victory.

Although the Lions scored eight goals Saturday night, one was all that Lindenwood goaltender Justin Grenon would need. Grenon made 8/8 saves, improving his save percentage to .915 and his record to 10-0-0 in 2024. Saturday night's victory was the Lions 16th in a row as they improved to 30-2 on the season.

Lindenwood will go for the sweep of the Lindenwood Winter Classic tomorrow afternoon when they face the Maryville Saints at 2:30 p.m. at Centene Community Ice Center.