Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...
1. Dominant defense: The fans at the Verizon Wireless Center saw another shutout on Friday night. Only this time, it was the Mavericks doing the blanking. Minnesota State, which had been shut out twice in five previous home games, outshot Alaska Anchorage 42-12, and freshman goalie Jason Pawloski earned a fairly easy shutout — his first as a Maverick. Pawloski credited his defense, of course, for how it played in front of him. Really, MSU kept the puck way, way, way in front of him, as in the other end of the ice where Seawolves goalie Olivier Mantha was busy. The Mavericks out-attempted the Seawolves 71-21 and allowed just two shots on goal in the third period.
2. Out of power: Minnesota State's power play went 0 for 7 and extended its scoreless streak to 29 in a row over six-plus games. It looked much better than it did against Northern Michigan a week earlier, however, as MSU had 15 shots on goal with the man advantage. Mantha came up huge on the penalty kill for the Seawolves, stopping a few tough rebound chances that easily could have been goals. Still, Minnesota State was not able to make Anchorage pay for its parade to the penalty box. The Mavericks had four chances in the first period alone, with one of those carrying over to the second period.
3. M*A*S*H unit: Who knows when the Mavericks will be fully healthy this season? They received some good news this week, as Jimmy Mullin, Jaden Schmeisser and Alec Vanko were cleared. They all played against the Seawolves and had solid moments. Mullin started strong after missing seven games following that bad hit on Oct. 30 against Alaska. Vanko missed 10 games and Schmeisser two. However, Dylan Margonari, who showed so much promise last Saturday, his fourth game back after missing the first 10, was a scratch on Friday with a lower body injury. It's not expected to keep him out long. Zach Stepan (upper body) missed his second game in a row, and defenseman Sean Flanagan (upper body) missed his first after getting hurt in overtime last Saturday.
Read my gamer here.
Around the WCHA: Bowling Green 2, Northern Michigan 1 ... Ferris State 1, Lake Superior State 0 ... Bemidji State 4, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Michigan Tech 4, Alaska 1
No comments:
Post a Comment