Freddy's Three Thoughts of the Game:
1. Ten-second turning point: A close game hinged on a Minnesota power play early in the third period. Minnesota State senior (and one-time Gopher) Michael Dorr had a short-handed breakaway but fired his shot wide. Minnesota came right back down to the other end of the ice, and Erik Haula blasted a shot past goalie Austin Lee (26 saves) from the right point. Not sure if Lee was screened on the play. Replay seemed to show that defenseman Josh Nelson was in front of his teammate, but coach Troy Jutting suggested that there was no screen. Either way, it was the difference in the game.
2. Long goals: Haula wasn't the only player with a long goal that the opposing goaltender would have liked back. MSU defenseman Evan Mosey scored the Mavericks' first goal, tying the game at 1-1 at 8:04 of the first period with a skipping shot from just inside the blue line that beat goalie Kent Patterson (26 saves). Lee also gave up a low, far-side shot from the right circle on the game's opening goal by Taylor Matson and didn't cover the near post enough on Nick Larson's goal that made it 2-1 at the start of the third period. Minnesota's other goal was an empty-netter by Jake Hanson.
3. Youngsters step up again: The Mavericks tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal at 9:28 of the second period. Freshman Jean-Paul LaFontaine scored it for his eighth goal of the season, but the play started with a heady play by rookie defenseman Zach Palmquist. Palmquist kicked the puck near the blue line to keep the puck in the zone. Then he gathered it up, beat a defender and charged hard to the net. He was checked into the goal, creating a pile-up in the net on top of Patterson, and LaFontaine fired in a loose puck. Zach Lehrke also assisted on the play.
Deep thought: It's got to be frustrating for MSU right now. They played the country's fifth-ranked team toe to toe only to extend their winless streak to six games. They've also had a six-game losing streak already this season.
Quote of the night: "That's a 10-second difference that could have been the exact opposite, a huge momentum for us at obviously a key point in the hockey game." — Troy Jutting on the turning point of the game.
See the box score here. Read my gamer here. More coverage from the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, USCHO and College Hockey News.
Around the WCHA: Minnesota Duluth 5, Michigan Tech 3 ... Alabama-Huntsville 3, Nebraska Omaha 1 ... Bemidji State 6, St. Cloud State 6 - OT ... Colorado College 4, Denver 3 - OT (CC wins on penalty shot in OT) ... North Dakota 5, Alaska Anchorage 2
1 comment:
From what I saw on tv Lee was not screened on the long shot and the first goal was soft also ( I think the first , the one from bad angle in close). This is a game we could have been up 3 to 1 after two. I got railed on the third week when I suggested we fiqured out the powerplay to an extent and I feel we have with the freshman line. They will only continue to get better and score more often. I still would change the older line. To what I don't know but they are not scoring or even getting the chances they should. The positives are that we had alot of scoring chances and overall we played a good game. I agree that frustration is probably weighing on these guys but this seems to be a pretty upbeat bunch of guys.
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