Game Gab - Nightly Post-Game Analysis
Come here after the games for analysis and insights from CHN Staff members, including columnist Adam Wodon. And then talk about it in our blog.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Vermont 3, Boston College 2
CHN: Neither Rob Madore nor Mike Spillane fared very well in Saturday's thrashing at Conte Forum. But Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon came back with the senior Spillane, and got a big performance as Vermont won for the first time in Chestnut Hill in 15 years. Spillane made 30 saves as the Cats improved to 4-4-1 (3-3-1 HEA) with the win. Freshman Chris McCarthy scored at even strength, junior Kevan Miller notched a shorthanded goal and junior Justin Milo had a power-play goal for the Catamounts. Vermont went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill after giving up three power-play goals in Saturday's 7-1 loss to BC. "I'm really proud of our team," Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon. "We didn't feel very good leaving this building last night; so, real pleased with our leadership. Real pleased with everyone on our team. It was a character game for us." ... Senior Brian Gibbons, BC's leading scorer, had the best chance to tie the game when he walked in alone on Spillane with 53 seconds left. Spillane turned away the shot to preserve the win. "I thought Spillane was fantastic when we had breakdowns," Sneddon said. "When they did create good scoring chances he was there to answer. Very, very excited about what we've seen from Michael and he was a big part of the win tonight."
Canisius 1, Connecticut 0
CHN: For the second time this season, Canisius scored the only goal of the game in the third period. “We battled right to the end today,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “It was a close game and we stayed sharp throughout the contest. Connecticut kept coming but we were able to match them in intensity. When the buzzer sounds and you see the victory, it is a good feeling.” Sophomore Dave Kostuch scored the game’s lone goal of the afternoon, finding the back of the net with 15:56 left. Josh Heidinger and Ryan Klusendorf cycled the puck behind the net to Kostuch. The sophomore then made a move to beat a defender and skated to the front of the goal, burying the shot for his fifth score of the season. “We knew that if we kept battling, that we would get one in,” Kostuch said. “We had a lot of shots and our team was confident that if we kept bringing it to them, that one would get through. On my goal there was a battle down low and Josh Heidinger and Ryan Klusendorf got the puck to me on the other side of the net. I made a move and was able to get the puck by their goalie.”
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Ohio State 4, Western Michigan 2
CHN: Zac Dalpe has busted loose. He waned down the stretch of his freshman year, then struggled to start this season. But with two in this game, he now has five on the season, and is showing everyone how he dazzled to start last year.
Minnesota 4, Bemidji State 1
CHN: Nico Sacchetti, Mike Carman and Jordan Schroeder all finally scored their first goals of the season, and two of them were on the previously-dormant power play. Carman hadn't scored in 19 games dating back to last season, while it had been 15 for Schroeder. Coach Don Lucia was happy about it, but said he hadn't been worried about it. "Sidney Crosby went five games without a point. It just happens," Lucia told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "It is magnified because it is early in the season and not in the middle of the year. He is scoring points, he is playing well, and you saw the sequence when we were killing penalties. He was a big part of that. It is not just scoring, it is doing other things that help you win games. And he has been doing that too."
St. Cloud State 3, North Dakota 2
CHN: Freshman Aaron Dell had a very good first outing, but not so good this time in his second one. Spelling Brad Eidsness, Dell allowed three goals on seven shots and was pulled. Eidsness stopped all the rest, but North Dakota couldn't get enough past SCSU's goalie Dan Dunn, although they thought Brett Hextall got another goal past him, only to have it overturned on review. Dunn was credited with 46 saves as the Huskies held on, and snapped the Sioux's 17-game home unbeaten streak. The Huskies used a shorthanded goal by Travis Novak and a rebound goal by Ryan Lasch to build a 2-0 lead after one period despite being outshot 20-6. The Sioux rallied on the first goal of the season by junior center Brad Malone at 1:23 of the second period and on senior center Chris VandeVelde's third of the season at 18:16 of the third period with Eidsness pulled for a sixth attacker. ... "We played 60 minutes," UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "We were prepared and ready to play tonight. Things in the first period didn't go our way. We played hard for 60 minutes." Hakstol didn't put the focus on goaltending. "We got ourselves in a whole -- WE did, not one guy, not two guys. We got ourselves in a whole. We just came up a little short in the end, even though we had some opportunities." ... "Look at last night, it wasn't our best performance and we came out with a win," Sioux forward Darcy Zajac said. "Tonight we played well. Tables turned. It just happens like that sometimes. We were sharper (tonight), making plays. You can tell by the number of shots we were playing together." ... The Sioux played without senior captain and defenseman Chay Genoway, who was injured in Friday's game on a play in which St. Cloud's Aaron Marvin drew a 5-minute major for checking from behind and after the game, the addition of a game disqualification penalty handed down by the WCHA. Hakstol doesn't know how long Genoway will be sidelined. "I think we're going to have to take things as they come," Hakstol said. "I don't want to say much more other than that he's out indefinitely."
Minnesota-Duluth 8, Michigan Tech 1
CHN: Justin Fontaine scored four times to move into tops in the nation in that category with 11. It was a dazzling individual performance amid a team domination, bouncing back off Friday's tough loss to Tech.
Colorado College 3, Minnesota State 2
CHN: CC earns a pair of one-goal wins for the weekend, with Joe Howe winning both games in goal.
Air Force 2, Holy Cross 2
CHN: Air Force scored twice in the third to get the tie. “This was a very entertaining game,” Air Force head coach Frank Serratore said. “Both teams played with a lot of energy and it went back and forth all night. This series was a street fight all weekend. A lot of times, low-scoring games are snoozers, but these two games were not. ... We had a lead in the third period, after being down in the third, and you have to find a way to get it done. We need to find a way to generate some offense and get more shots. We took three of four points in a tough building against a tough opponent and we aren’t going to apologize for that. We’ll take it. This team has a good ingredient in that we have come from behind in both of our ties this season. If you aspire to be a champion, you have to have the ability to win on the road and come from behind and we did both this weekend. Our guys showed a lot of character in coming from behind.”
American Int'l 2, Army 0
CHN: Adam Pleskach scored a goal and had an assist and Ben Meisner made 35 saves as American International earned just its second win of the year. “You certainly can’t fault the guys’ effort,” said Army hockey head coach Brian Riley. “We skated hard and had our chances. We just have to find ways to put the puck in the net.”
Ferris State 1, Miami 1
CHN: For a second straight night, Ferris State wins in the shootout for two points. That means Miami left four valuable league points on the table this weekend, and fell out of first place in favor of Michigan State. You could say this was a letdown weekend for Miami off the two-game sweep at Michigan, but maybe we should be crediting Ferris State here. It was so hard to tell the true worth of their record coming into the weekend, because the Bulldogs' schedule to date hadn't been great. But they certainly proved themselves with a couple of strong performances. Not pretty hockey, by any means, but Ferris State did what it had to do. ... Connor Knapp, who had been sick for a couple of weekends, got his first start in net for Miami in a while, and performed well. He is now 1-1-1.
Michigan State 2, Michigan 0
CHN: Drew Palmisano made 31 saves, and Michigan State sweeps the home-and-home from the reeling Wolverines. The win puts MSU alone in first place in the CCHA -- a tremendous start for the Spartans, who are just doing everyone right these days. Meanwhile, Michigan can't get out of its own way -- a weird site to see for such a talented squad. ... Michigan State was greeted by a large, loud, enthusiastic crowd at Munn, something that isn't as much of a foregone conclusion as in other CCHA buildings. And the sweep was MSU coach Rick Comley's first of Michigan during his eight-year tenure with the Spartans. "After getting hammered by them five times (last season), it's a good step. When you beat them, everybody feels good," Comley told the Lansing State Journal. "Every win is big. We're trying to regain trust and confidence." ... "We saw (the big crowds) at Maine, at Miami, at Michigan and this is our first time. It means everything. The kids are pumped because of the win and atmosphere, which you'd like it to become again."
Boston College 7, Vermont 1
CHN: Freshman Steven Whitney scored his first two college goals, as BC extended its home winning streak over Vermont to 10 games with its best effort of the season. At the same time, after a nice first couple of weekends, Vermont has been struggling. People may have expected the Cats to struggle moreso this year, but the good start raised expectations. "Every mistake we made they capitalized," Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "They touched the puck it turned to gold; we touched the puck it turned to coal." Sophomore Rob Madore stopped eight shots and allowed four goals before being replaced by senior Mike Spillane at the start of the third period. But Spillane fared no better. Sophomore Jimmy Hayes had four assists for the Eagles. "I though they played great," Sneddon said. "They're explosive and when you start to give them chances their going to make the most out of it. Certainly they were the far better team tonight."
New Hampshire 4, Massachusetts 2
CHN: Despite getting heavily outshot, this time the Wildcats held on, unlike Friday night. And this time Bobby Butler's efforts did not go for naught. He scored two more goals and now has nine on the season, second-best in the nation.
Cornell 6, Brown 0
CHN: New coach Brendan Whittet was looking for any spark for his still-winless team, but it didn't work. Brown pulled the goalie with about three minutes left, down 3-0, but Cornell scored into an empty net -- then put two more in within 22 seconds after the goalie was put back in the net. Cornell has four wins this year -- but all of them have come against teams that still haven't won a game, except for Harvard, whose only win is against Dartmouth, which is likewise winless. This isn't to say Cornell isn't good, because the Big Red have been explosive in those four wins -- it's just that, it's hard to say right now what we're dealing with here. We'll find out soon enough. Blake Gallagher (5) was the only multi-goal scorer for the Red.
Colgate 3, Yale 3
CHN: Yale rallied from down two goals, with senior defenseman Tom Dignard scoring to tie it. Dignard missed the end of last season with an injury, then had a different injury to start this season, finally returning for this weekend. Friday against Cornell he had two assists, and another big-impact performance here. ... A big question for Yale this season, despite having all of the other pieces in place to make another stab at the NCAAs, was the goaltending. And so this weekend, Keith Allain, a former Yale goalie himself, turned to a freshman to give him a shot, and Nick Maricic came out with a win and a tie. Not bad. He only had to make 19 saves Saturday night, so we'll see how it goes. Yale has a few options now -- but no one has been overwhelming. ... “I didn’t like our start, but we played pretty well after that,” said Yale coach Keith Allain. “We stick with our plan pretty well. There are some guys in that room who play better with their backs against the wall.” ... Yale had a 44-22 shot edge. ... Colgate is still unbeaten in the ECAC (3-0-1).
St. Lawrence 2, Rensselaer 1
CHN: RPI suffered its first league setback, despite Chase Polacek's ninth goal of the season, second best in the country. St. Lawrence got goals from seniors Jeff Caister and Mike McKenzie just 1:49 apart in the third period, finally overcoming Allen York's netminding. The win did not come without its anxious moments for the Saints, who outshot RPI 30-7 over the final 40 minutes of regulation. RPI pulled York for an extra attacker with 1:54 to go and were awarded a power play with 1:31 left, but the Saints did a tremendous job of killing off the 6-on-4 advantage and did not allow a shot to get through to goalie Kain Tisi.
Union 5, Clarkson 1
CHN: A North Country sweep for the Dutchmen, both wins coming with Keith Kinkaid between the pipes. Coach Nate Leaman went down to the wire on the weekend not being sure who he would play in net, but I guess it worked out.
Quinnipiac 4, Dartmouth 2
CHN: Scott Zurevinski scored twice (7) and Quinnipiac is now 8-1, while Dartmouth remains the only team in the nation without a win or tie (0-5).
Boston University 6, Merrimack 4
CHN: Boston University got off to a big lead, then had to hold off a determined Warriors squad, who made it back to 5-4 before a late empty netter. It snapped BU's four-game losing streak. It was 4-0 after the first period, when Merrimack pulled Andrew Braithwaite in favor of Joe Cannata. It got to 5-4 midway through the third period, but that was as far as Merrimack could get it. Grant Rollheiser returned from injury and made his first start in net for BU this season. Also back was top-line center Nick Bonino, who had been out with a shoulder injury. ... "We've gone quite a long time without a 5-on-4 goal and we got a few tonight," said BU coach Jack Parker. "We played stupid sometimes with penalties ... made it too close a game than it should've been. ... We tried to make too many cute plays and big plays. So those things were disheartening. We (thought) we had it in the bag and made foolish plays with the puck. The amount of turnovers in the third was night and day to the first and second period." ... "I very rarely take a goalie out," said Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy. "Usually it's for his own good in the sense that we didn't play that well in front of him. ... I didn't think we were ready to play, but you don't know that until the puck drops."
Northern Michigan 3, Notre Dame 2
CHN: Despite out shooting Northern Michigan, 38-18, the Irish scored just twice. Beleaguered Northern Michigan goaltender Brian Stewart picked up his first win of the season. He really needed that. Irish freshman Mike Johnson was making his third consecutives start in the Notre Dame goal. The loss, the second in a row for the eighth-ranked Irish, drops them to 5-5-1 overall and 2-2-1-0 in the CCHA, good for seven points in conference play. “I thought we played well, we played hard tonight,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson. “We executed well and did a good job of getting to the net, crashing the net looking to score dirty goals. (Brian) Stewart played well. You have to give him credit. Northern played well; they played a good road game. You have to give them their due. They are a pretty good hockey team.” ... “Tonight, I thought we played one of our better games of the season. When you aren’t getting offensive production, every little mistake is magnified whether its a turnover, a missed face-off assignment or a penalty, its magnified and the goaltenders are under that pressure too,” said Jackson. ... Notre Dame would get a chance to get back in the game with a minute-and-two-seconds of a 5-on-3 power play that saw the Irish get four shots on goal but Stewart held them off the scoreboard. “The five-on-three hurt us. You want to capitalize on those situations,” said Jackson.
Northern Michigan 2, Notre Dame 2
CHN: Junior right wing Billy Maday scored both goals as Notre Dame rallied from a 2-0 deficit. He then scored in the shootout to help get the Irish the two points. The Wildcats got second-period goals from Ray Kaunisto and Jared Brown 42 seconds apart to build the 2-0 lead. Junior goaltender Brad Phillips, making his first start since Oct. 31, stopped 32-of-34 Northern Michigan shots, including 14 in the third period. Brian Stewart, who played well in Saturday's NMU win, finished with 25 saves. “Give our guys credit for coming back from the 2-0 deficit,” said Irish coach Jeff Jackson. “It was a hard-fought game. Northern Michigan is a good hockey team. People picked them to be in the top of our standings this year. There were positive signs; we had to grind it out. They (the Wildcats) are a big, tough team to play against.” Phillips had lost playing time to freshman Mike Johnson, who started the last three games, after Phillips had lost a few late leads. But he was strong in the third. “Brad made the difference tonight in the third period when we were short-handed four times in the period,” said Jackson. “It was good for him to step up. Tonight was the first time he shut them down in the third period. I’ve been waiting for him to do that -- finish the game. Like a closer in baseball, you have to be your best at the most important time of the game.”
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