Welcome back.
Unexpected byes are no fun. Now we will find out if UMD can find its offense again. The Bulldogs have been a bit inconsistent when it comes to goal scoring, and it bit them in their last series, a home-and-home sweep by No. 1 Minnesota State where Jesse Jacques’ tally in the third period Dec. 30 in Mankato proved to be UMD’s only goal of the series.
UMD has been shut out in two of its last four games, and the six-goal outburst against Denver on Dec. 11 has proven to be the exception and not the rule as of late. It’s something UMD coach Scott Sandelin talked about this week, and it’s something that he brought up with me before the Thursday night game in Mankato. He talked then about trying to find “offensive consistency,” and he still is looking for that.
We’ll see if a Miami team that is conceding over four goals per game can help the Bulldogs find that offense a little bit. It’s UMD’s first conference action of the 2022 portion of the schedule.
Of course, UMD was supposed to meet St. Cloud State last weekend, but COVID protocols sent that series into the abyss. Still don’t know when it will be played, but the consensus from everyone I’ve talked to is that the games will be made up. With SCSU no longer possessing a bye week after this weekend’s series with Denver was postponed until February, it will be weeknights or bust for UMD and the Huskies to make up last weekend’s games.
Off the COVID pause, it appears most of UMD’s roster is good to go. Jarrett Lee draws in on the fourth line, with Ben Almquist and Kyler Kleven among the scratches. Couple changes up front, as Sandelin juggles two of the top three lines, leaving only the James Gang (Dominic James, Quinn Olson, Blake Biondi) untouched. On defense, the seven defensemen UMD has primarily been using are all in the lineup.
Lines?
Lines.
UMD forwards
Cates – Gilling – Roth
Olson – James – Biondi
Bender – Jacques – Laderoute
Lee – Loney – Loheit
UMD defense
Anderson – Roehl
Kaiser – Gotz
Gallatin – Kelley
Lellig
UMD goalies
Fanti – Patt – Stejskal
Miami forwards
Barbolini – Savage – Fletcher
Pletzke – Cassetti – Regush
Olmstead – Graham – Barry
Corbett – Daskas – Holland
Miami defense
Daschke – Drazner
Moulton – Clement
Crowder – Rydqvist
Donato
Miami goalies
Persson – Laursen
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