The Oklahoma Warriors took advantage of power-play opportunities in its 4-1 victory over the Maine Nordiques on Friday at the North American Hockey League Showcase in Blaine, Minn.

Oklahoma scored two goals on the man advantage to put the game out of reach in the third period.

“Those power-plays, which (Oklahoma) earned … they were beautiful,” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “They are well-coached by coach (Garrett) Roth. He always makes the playoffs and does a great job, but I felt they were playing not to lose even though they were producing on the power play. I think 5-on-5, we were giving them (trouble) with a lot of scoring chances but weren’t able to get the puck over the line, other than the Jonny Meiers goal.”

Hunter Jones scored his second goal of the game nearly seven minutes into the third, extending the lead to 3-0. Owen Baumgartner scored midway through the stanza for a 4-0 lead.

Meiers secured the Nordiques’ (1-3) only goal 13:27 into the third period to cut the deficit to 4-1.

The Nordiques will work on a several things to get the offense going when they return to Lewiston.

“We will be able to work on quite a few things and put points of emphasis: being able to sustain the pressure and build chances through actual goal scoring,” Pinchevsky said. “Our offense is going to come from our (defensemen). We have been doing an excellent job of defending 5-on-5 all season long. I know it’s early, but whoever is tracking us, looking at the box scores or anything like that, we do a very good job defending 5-on-5, which comes from our goaltending.”

Jones scored his first goal late in the first period, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead.

Joey Delgreco scored around six-minute mark in the second period to make it 2-0.

William Lawson-Body assisted on both goals and finished the game with three assists.

Oklahoma goalie Daniel Duris stopped 15 shots in the win, while Kael DePape made 18 saves in his first start in a Maine Nordiques uniform.

The Nordiques close out the showcase in Blaine at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in an exhibition contest against the USA National Team Development Program U17 team, which plays in the Tier I United States Hockey League. The U17 team already has 11 players committed to NCAA Division I schools — including four to Hockey East schools — and many of the players will be selected either in the 2024 or 2025 NHL Drafts.

“The (NAHL) does a good job creating these opportunities, and this one is a huge honor, to be able to play the U.S. National Team (Development) Program,” Pinchevsky said. “To create an environment that will be visible to scouts at every level — that’s what the North American (Hockey) League does. It creates opportunities for its players, coaches and organizations.”

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