Freddy's three thoughts of the game:
1. Outplayed but not outscored: Sometimes the shots-on-goal stat can be deceiving. Minnesota State outshot Michigan Tech 46-32 on Saturday night and 83-64 for the weekend. The Mavericks controlled the puck, created plays and again had plenty of prime scoring opportunities. They scored five goals, but could have had oh-so-much more. Players are missing nets high and wide and not attacking rebounds when they do hit the net. The power play finally scored -- a goal which forced the tie -- but it is now just 2 of 21 over four games. "It's gotta get better," coach Troy Jutting said. "Again, you've gotta score when you get your chances."
2. Defensemen come through (on offense): What a night for the blue liners. Tyler Elbrecht, Kurt Davis and Cameron Cooper scored goals. Joe Schiller, who spent much of his first two seasons playing as a defenseman, had a short-handed goal, and Channing Boe fired the power-play blast that rookie forward Chase Grant tipped in to force overtime. Davis finished with a goal and two assists. Even Tech defenseman Steven Seigo had a big night, assisting on his team's power-play goal that tied the game 4-4 with 30 seconds left in the second period and scoring the go-ahead goal midway through the third. The Mavericks' defenders weren't as good at defending, however, and have much to clean up before Colorado College comes to Mankato on Friday. "We didn't put 60 minutes together, collectively, as a team," Boe said.
3. Rebound issues: Mavericks goalie Austin Lee is probably kicking himself on the long bus ride back to Mankato because of two of Tech's goals. On the game's first goal and on the score that tied the game 3-3 in 91 seconds into the third period, Lee let rebounds get away from him that he should have gobbled up. Instead, they fell to the ice for Husky goals. The initial shot on both plays ended up in Lee's chest or belly, a place where many MSU shots went to die against Tech's Kevin Genoe. Lee can make the first save, but needs to do a better job of handling the puck once it gets to him. Lee finished the game with 27 saves, including 10 in the third period.
Overtime: Michigan Tech is unbeaten through five games (3-0-2) for the first time since the 1972-73 season when the Huskies started 8-0-0.
For more on Saturday's game, check out Sunday's edition of The Free Press.
2 comments:
Been laying low observing and not sure about what we are seeing.
Looking back at the score sheets from this weekend, it appears to be that same problem - lazy, dumb penalties.
The fix would seem easy. Don't do it or you sit!
We all know there are good penalties, but that has not been the case. Coverage breakdowns can and do lead to penalties, so there is another area to improve on.
Then our own PP needs better QB'ing. Patience, puck movement and hard work down low in front of the net. We know a key D is out at the moment who finished strong last year, but surely we have another unit that can get the job done. I suggest watching what the opposition does to us with "back door" scoring and try the same.
Special TEAMS are key to winning and let's hope that this sloooooow start picks up like they did last year very soon as we need these points to make the top 8 out of 12.
GO MAVS...
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