Game Gab - Nightly Post-Game Analysis
Come here after the games for analysis and insights from CHN Staff members.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha 2, Minnesota State 1 - Saturday, March 16, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha weathered an early storm, allowing just one goal, which gave itself the opportunity to come back over the final two periods, which it did. Game 3 is Sunday. It figures the 6-7 seeds would go to three games, but these were teams seeming in opposite directions, with UNO losing seven of nine. And goalie John Faulkner has been taking heat from UNO fans, but coach Dean Blais stuck with him after Game 1, and Faulkner played perhaps his best game of the season. Dominic Zombo wound up getting the game winner in the third. "We needed a better net presence," MSU coach Mike Hastings said. "There's a price you gotta pay to score goals. We're just gonna have to do that tomorrow. ... When I watch the Tour de France, I think about fatigue. Fatigue's a state of mind. So, we're not fatigued. ... We had some good opportunities tonight with guys I thought this entire year were good at finishing. It didn't happen tonight. I don't have a problem with my team tonight. I thought the effort was there."
Friday, March 15, 2013
Minnesota State 4, Nebraska-Omaha 3 - Friday, March 15, 2013
Minnesota State battled from behind all night. It overcame Ryan Walters' 22nd goal of the season, rallying in the third to tie on a goal from Bryce Gervais. Then Chase Grant scored 7:04 into overtime on a setup from John-Paul Lafontaine. "They just almost scored at the other end," Grant said. "I was pretty tired from my shift. But I saw my guys go up and we had a 3-on-2, so I just had to stay on. I got a great pass from John-Paul and I just put it home. ... I've been needing to shoot the puck more, and I was really happy to see one finally go in. ... It's a big goal, but we did a lot of good things in that game and it's a total team effort. But I've been really trying to push myself in practice just to get more pucks on net, and score more goals, because I need to be able to contribute for the team in that way too."
It was the fifth straight overtime playoff game played in Mankato, dating all the way back to 2003. Since last reaching the Final Five in 2003, MSU has won the first game of a series four times, but lost the next two games each time. This is another opportunity.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Minnesota-Duluth 6, Nebraska-Omaha 0 - Saturday, March 9, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha's fade down the stretch reached its culmination with this defeat, its first shutout loss of the season. It sends the Mavs right out of a home-ice bid, something it had been heading towards with this losing stretch, and now has come to pass with another two losses. Read more about this game in our WCHA blog.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Wisconsin 6, Nebraska-Omaha 2 - Saturday, March 2, 2013
Wisconsin certainly made a statement in coming off that overtime loss to Penn State on Monday. It took a lot of flack for that, but the Badgers bounced back and won twice in Omaha this weekend, and have surged their way up to fourth in the WCHA with one weekend remaining. It all gets very interesting now, because the Badgers host first-place St. Cloud State for two games next weekend, and could conceivably finish in first. Given the start the Badgers had, not to mention that loss to Penn State, that's amazing to even be that close. Unfortunately for them, they dug a big hole as far as the NCAAs are concerned, and still have a lot of work to do in that department.
Michael Mersch scored twice, his 19th and 20th on the season. How many people realize Mersch is a 20-goal scorer? He had 14 last season as a sophomore, and definitely flies under the radar nationally.
Nebraska-Omaha has really taken it on the chin lately after its promising start. The NCAAs are well in the rearview mirror at this point, and a home ice spot in the playoffs is in major jeopardy now too.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
North Dakota 5, Nebraska-Omaha 2 - Saturday, February 9, 2013
North Dakota played great all weekend and earned a two-game sweep. It has lost only three times in the last 17 games, and is firmly in second place now in the WCHA.
However, the real talk of the weekend is the outdoor game that ... well, did not go off smoothly. Outdoor games are still fun and worth getting excited about, and of course these teams, and the city of Omaha was rightfully looking forward to it ever since it was announced. But Sunday's game -- played at the baseball stadium where the College World Series is held -- had issues from the get go. There was rain during the week and it was a bit too warm Sunday. And then the ice ran into more problems following the early USHL game. The start time for UNO-North Dakota was pushed back from the afternoon, ultimately getting started around 6:30 ET. Adding insult to injury for UNO, swarms of North Dakota fans came down and overwhelmed the Mavericks fans in the stadium, making for a quite unique atmosphere.
“The ice conditions were a factor, no question,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol told the Omaha World-Herald. “And I thought that if one team was lucky enough to jump out to a lead that it was going to be a significant difference in the game. Luckily for us, it was us.”
The event was actually run by the Omaha Sports Commission, not Nebraska-Omaha, but it was still a rough weekend -- all-around -- for UNO.
As for this game itself, goals from Corban Knight (13) and Danny Kristo (18) for North Dakota, easily offset two from UNO's high scorers, Josh Archibald (16) and Dominic Zombo (10). UNO goaltender John Faulkner was pulled in favor of Dayn Belfour. The son of NHL standout -- and North Dakota alum -- Ed Belfour, Dayn hadn't played this season until Anthony Stolarz left the program. Belfour finally got a start in Friday's loss to North Dakota and played well.
“The one thing you can't correct is that if your team doesn't have heart and character, you'll never make a run at it," UNO coach Dean Blais told the Herald. "But I don't see that as a problem on our team. I see a lot of pride. They could have just turned it in and just went through the motions, but they didn't. They battled back, and it really could have turned.”
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Michigan Tech 2, Nebraska-Omaha 1 - Saturday, February 2, 2013
Mikael Lickteig scored at 2:56 of overtime to give Tech the win and a split of the weekend. That drops Nebraska-Omaha three points behind St. Cloud State for first place in the WCHA. Despite being so high up in the WCHA standings, UNO can't afford to take these hits, since a poor non-league record has the Mavericks at just 21st in the Pairwise right now, far from the NCAAs at the moment.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha 2, Bemidji State 1 - Saturday, January 26, 2013
While everyone else is getting all the publicity lately, UNO continues to go about its business, winning games. The sweep enabled the Mavericks to move into a tie for second in the WCHA. Friday, Matt White (14) had two more goals in a 5-3 win. This night, it was Dominic Zumbo and Josh Archibald, whose fathers once played on a line together at North Dakota, getting the big goals as UNO squeaked it out. It should be mentioned that John Faulkner has stepped it out, carrying the load in net now since Anthony Stolarz decided to bolt for major junior.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha 3, Denver 3 - Saturday, January 12, 2013
These two teams battled hard all weekend, and when it was over, came away in a tie for first place in the WCHA, one point ahead of Minnesota and Nebraska-Omaha. "Certainly I thought we controlled the puck a lot better tonight than we did last night," Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We served up three gifts tonight that anybody would take advantage of, especially a good offensive team like UNO. It was a typical game between two teams that were battling for first place."
Read more about Friday's game in our blog, a wild 7-4 win for Denver.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha 3, Colorado College 1 - Saturday, January 5, 2013
Nebraska-Omaha bounced back from last week's pair of losses at Quinnipiac, and took over first place in the WCHA, scoring two third-period goals to beat CC. The Mavericks swept the Tigers after beating them 8-4 on Friday night. UNO is now one point ahead of St. Cloud State, which was playing a non-conference series this weekend. The Tigers are winless in seven (0-6-1).
“To be on top of the league like this, it's a special feeling,” UNO goalie John Faulkner told the Omaha World-Herald. “You never take anything for granted. We go to work every day and give it 100 percent, and as a team we're very confident in one another. We know what kind of hockey we're capable of playing.” ... Coach Dean Blais told the Herald: “It was more of a character win than anything. We're not going to out-talent anyone right now. We've got to, hopefully, outwork them and get a few breaks here and there.”
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Quinnipiac 3, Nebraska-Omaha 1 - Sunday, December 30, 2012
See here for the roundup of Saturday's game. Then Sunday, Quinnipiac completed a two-game sweep with a solid 3-1 win. We'll have more to come on this one, but for now, suffice to say that Quinnipiac is certainly for real, and is sitting pretty in the Pairwise now as we enter the new year. It would take a monumental collapse for Quinnipiac to miss the NCAAs, something it hasn't done since joining the ECAC. Now, QU has had some poor second halves of seasons in recent years, but it would really need to go in the tank to ruin things here. Because it was the Bobcats' last non-league game, it's in good shape, with many good wins already in the bank. Just going .500 the rest of the way in the ECAC will be sufficient, though they'll certainly be gunning for more.
Nebraska-Omaha is still OK, despite the two losses. It needs to get Brock Montpetit back in the lineup, but that will be a while. Dean Blais was dressing eight defensemen, and playing two of the up front, this weekend. The goaltending, of course, needs to straighten itself out as well. John Faulkner was decent Sunday, but left a fat rebound that created Quinnipiac's third goal.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
St. Cloud State 2, Nebraska-Omaha 1 - Saturday, December 8, 2012
After Friday's 6-5 barnburner win for UNO, things were more subdued Saturday, as the Huskies responded for the split. David Morley completed a hat trick for St. Cloud with two goals late in Friday's loss to bring his team within a goal, but that was as close as it got. Ryan Walters, who was just named national player of the month by the Hockey Commissioners group, scored twice for the Mavericks in that game. ... Saturday, St. Cloud scored early, then had a five-minute major power play in the first period, only to see UNO get a shorthanded goal. The game stayed tied -- thanks in large part to two UNO goals that were disallowed, one for a crease violation and one for kicking the puck -- until midway through the third when freshman Jonny Brodzinski scored the game winner for the Huskies.
“Brodzinski filled in nice on that line and that line was making plays all night,” Huskies junior defenseman Nick Jensen told the St. Cloud Times. "We really needed him out there tonight. ... He goes super hard, no matter where he goes: in the corners, back-checking or going to the net. He’s not afraid to go in there. If he’s going to hit, he’s going to get hit.” ... Morley left Saturday's game hurt, but reports indicate he should be OK. It was scary though because Morley took what appeared to be a hit to the head -- last season, he sat out as a medical redshirt due to concussion issues.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Nebraska-Omaha 3, Minnesota-Duluth 2 - Saturday, November 10, 2012
A power-play goal from Michael Young in the third period gave the Mavericks the win, their third in a row. UMD fell behind 2-0, but had two power-play goals late in the first. But then UMD had two players tossed from the game for major penalties, and it set the Bulldogs back a bit. "Aside from the start, I thought we had a pretty good game," UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. "I like the way our guys battled back. We've got to finish our opportunities."
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Nebraska-Omaha 5, Michigan Tech 3 - Saturday, November 3, 2012
Not many teams were able to get sweeps this weekend, but UNO was one, doing it in Houghton. Friday, it was Zahn Raubenheimer scoring both Mavericks' goals, including the game-winning shorthanded effort late in the third. The 23-year old junior followed that up Saturday by scoring two more in the four-goal second period as UNO pulled away. Raubenheimer equaled the total goals he had as a freshman (he had just one last season).
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Bemidji State 3, Nebraska-Omaha 2 - Saturday, October 27, 2012
Bemidji's mastery over UNO continues. The Beavers got a late second-period goal, and killed off a major penalty in the third.
Minnesota State 3, Nebraska-Omaha 1 - Sunday, March 17, 2013
Minnesota State advances to the Final Five for the first time in 10 years. Matt Leitner's power-play goal in the third period sealed it, his 17th goal of the season. "That was the best 20 minutes I thought we had in a month," Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings said. "I thought we came out with a lot of energy and committed to what we needed to do. We had a couple of guys make some plays." ... Hastings pointed to Bryce Gervais, who he moved to the first line with Leitner and Chase Grant (who had Friday's OT winner). Gervais, a freshman, scored the game's first goal. "He's a guy that's big and been successful in other places, and having the season he had last year in Penticton and what they did, he really stepped up. And so did No. 18 (Leitner). He really challenged himself today, and to score the goal he did ... Matt Leitner's got a lot of will -- a prideful kid. And I'm really happy for him, because he went the extra mile tonight."
Said Leitner: "It's awesome. I can't really put it into words rightnow. It's something we talked about art the beginning of the year."
UNO's season comes to a disappointing conclusion after the nice start it had. Of course, Hastings was an assistant there last year, and former Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting is now a UNO assistant. So the post-game handshake line was emotional, with Jutting hugging all of his former players. "That group over there is a special group," Hastings said of UNO. "I spent a lot of time with them. I'm happy for our guys. But I've had my season ended. It's not fun. I've got a lot of respect for Dean (Blais), the (UNO) administration and the guys in that locker room. I'm happy for my guys, but I don't take any pleasure in having that happen to those guys."
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