Every time the OU hockey team steps on the ice with Indiana, the same thing happens: 7-7-7.

The Sooners skated on their home ice Friday night for the first time in nearly three weeks and did not disappoint, defeating the Hoosiers 7-2.

OU faced Indiana earlier this season over the Halloween weekend, sweeping the Hoosiers by scores of 7-2 and 7-3. They weren’t about to overlook an unranked Hoosier team.

“We’ve got to come out hard every game, no matter who we’re playing,” junior forward Keith Denton said. “We’ve got to work on coming out strong and really finish off this weekend.”

Indiana struck first, sneaking a power play goal off the back of Sophomore Goaltender Matt Pombo’s pads. Sophomore Erik Skjodt (pronounced ‘Scott’) stole the puck and scored the goal unassisted.

OU’s leading goal scorer, sophomore forward Brad McCabe, took matters into his own hands to tie it up.

McCabe made a defensive stop at the Sooners’ blue line, stole the puck and charged through the neutral zone. Junior forward Jesse Bryant trailed McCabe into the offensive end and set up shop deep in the point, behind the circle. McCabe drew the defense in with him, stopped on a dime, and dropped a no-look pass to Bryant while screening the goaltender and both defenders. Bryant wound up and sent a slap shot into the net to tie the game, 1-1.

It was all OU in the second period. Bryant stayed on the offensive as he found freshman defenseman Troy Puente for his second goal in three games.

While the Sooners were down two men, junior forward Blake Martin gained control of the puck and caught the Hoosier defensemen out of position. He flew down the ice on a breakaway and sent a short-handed goal past junior goaltender Daniel Abramson. Freshman forward Chad Hudson scored later in the period on a wrist-shot from the right circle.

Leading 4-1 after two periods, OU had gained control, but did not settle. Junior defenseman Shawn Hayden threw the puck at the net and freshman forward Nic Power corralled the rebound for the score just two minutes into the third.

“That’s what we’ve got to do,” Hayden said. “We’ve got to get a few more dirty goals. We like to be finesse, but sometimes you’ve just got to play simple hockey.”

Hoosier senior defenseman Tyler Bohman stole the puck and found freshman forward Kyle Lewis for the score, Indiana’s second goal of the night. Pombo was visibly frustrated, but Martin skated immediately to his goaltender and assured him that they’d get that goal back.

Martin did just that as he assisted McCabe on the Sooners’ second power play goal of the night, making it 6-2.

Sophomore forward Travis McKinney found all types of fortune at the Blazers Ice Centre Friday night. He got a rare start and plenty of ice time, but his grand prize would come in the third period.

Again on the penalty kill for OU, Puente cleared the puck out of the defensive zone. Hopping over the boards on a shift-change, McKinney no sooner touched his skates to the ice than found himself one-on-one with the goalie. He skated in hard and beat Abramson for the Sooners’ second short-handed score of the evening.

OU’s first line of Bryant, McCabe and Martin had a total of three goals and four assists on the night. Puente added three assists to go with his goal to lead OU with four points. Hayden added two assists.

OU and Indiana complete their season series Saturday night at the Blazers Ice Centre in Oklahoma City. Face-off is at 6:30 p.m.

OU now owns a 19-7-5 record, while IU is 12-18-0. The Sooners have a week off before the second-semester home-and-home with Central Oklahoma. The teams will skate at the Arctic Edge in Edmond Feb. 19 and at the Blazers Centre on Feb. 20.