Thursday, March 15, 2012

Top 10 moments

All right, so a 12-win, 11th-place season wasn't the greatest for the Mavericks. But there had to be 10 memorable games/moments, right? Here are PucKato's top 10 from the 2011-12 season:

1. 2OT heartbreaker (March 10): The best game of the year was the last, a 3-2 double-overtime loss in the second game of the WCHA playoffs at Minnesota Duluth. The first overtime was 20 minutes of classic, play-to-win hockey, with MSU outshooting UMD 16-15. Austin Lee played one of the finest games of his career but suffered the loss after making 56 saves, a high for the Mavericks in the Division I era.


2. Hayes, McInnis shine against Omaha (Jan. 21): The Mavericks looked like they were starting to turn the corner after this one, bouncing back from a tough overtime loss in the series opener to win in overtime on Saturday. Eriah Hayes recorded his first career hat trick, and Johnny McInnis won the game in extra time with a bomb of a shot.

3. Two goals in 10 seconds (Feb. 18): The Mavericks were about three minutes away from getting swept by Minnesota Duluth at home when Michael Dorr and Eli Zuck scored goals 10 seconds apart to tie the  game and force overtime where it ended 4-4. Minnesota State had six shots on goal in overtime, too, but couldn't get the winner.

4. Karambelas makes debut in comeback (Nov. 26): Phil Cook struggled mightily, allowing five goals on seven shots before being pulled down 5-1. But the Mavericks came back after that, scoring four unanswered goals, including two by Jean-Paul LaFontaine. When Cook came out, coach Troy Jutting gave Evan Karambelas his first real-game experience, and the goalie stopped all six shots he faced.

5. Lee opens season with shutout (Oct. 7): The Mavericks opened the season at RPI, and beat the ranked Engineers 1-0 behind a 36-save performance from Austin Lee. Cameron Cooper scored the game-winner with just 1:22 remaining in regulation. It sure looked like a good sign for MSU, but it didn't get its second win of the season until Nov. 5.

6. Cook shuts out Wisconsin (Jan. 14): After that performance against Anchorage, it was easy to wonder if we'd ever see Cook again. But he returned to the nets in January and at home against the Badgers, stopped 32 shots for a shutout win, ensuring that Wisconsin still has not swept a series in Mankato.

7. Mavericks sweep Seawolves (Feb. 10-11): Seniors Mike Louwerse and Michael Dorr stepped up and gave MSU its first road sweep since the 2008-09 season. The two wins over the Seawolves gave them a 6-3 record over a nine-game stretch, but they ended up being the last two wins of the season.

8. Freshmen break out (Nov. 5): The Mavericks figured out they had something special in their rookie class as Jean-Paul LaFontaine had two goals and an assist, Matt Leitner scored two goals and Zach Palmquist had three assists in a 6-3 win at Michigan Tech. Freshman D Mat Knoll also had a goal in the game.

9. Mavs score three shorties (Dec. 10): Michael Dorr scored two short-handed goals and Zach Lehrke had another in a 9-1 home victory over Alabama-Huntsville. MSU finished the season with seven short-handed goals, while allowing three.

10. Lee's amazing save (Dec. 4): The Mavericks lost 3-2 at Minnesota, but the highlight was a save by Austin Lee in the second period Kyle Rau's initial shot hit the right post and was caroming across the behind him when the goalie reached behind his back and swatted it way. Watch it here:



What am I missing?

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