KALAMAZOO, Mich. — During UMD’s trip to Kalamazoo in the 2022-23 season, the Friday game saw the teams combine for six (6) goals in the first 10 minutes of the first period, including a UMD own goal. UMD would go on to win 5-4 when Darian Gotz was released from a late minor penalty and scored on a partial breakaway just outside of the final minute of the third period.
And the Friday game we just witnessed may have been crazier.
Saying UMD won 6-3 doesn’t do that justice.
8 THOUGHTS
1. Going back to last Saturday, one of the more impressive things we saw from UMD was a response. Colorado College tied that game 2-2 on a goal by Nicklas Andrews with 0.2 seconds left in the second period.
Instead of hanging their heads over a suboptimal shift that led to that equalizer, UMD came out after intermission and played one of its better periods of the season. Though it was unable to break the 2-2 stalemate, the Bulldogs outshot the Tigers 17-6 in the third period and remained on their toes for most of the 20 minutes. It was a stanza that deserved a reward that never came, as Noah Laba walked Colorado College off in overtime.
Given multiple moments on Friday that could have caused UMD to wilt, the Bulldogs remained steadfast and determined. This time, the quality responses were often followed by UMD goals.
A late first period goal by Western’s Zac Galambos tied the game 1-1 after UMD played a really strong first 18 minutes. The Bulldogs responded with a good second period, and took the lead late in a sequence we will get to.
After Braden Fischer gave UMD a 3-1 lead, Western pulled one back, and UMD again responded. 1:25 was largely spent in the Western zone, leading to a goalmouth scramble and a goal by Blake Biondi that was initially undetected by the officials but ruled a goal after video review.
Then Matteo Costantini cashed in off a Western rush to make it a 4-3 game, and Anthony Menghini roofed a backhander 19 seconds later to give UMD the two-goal lead once again. Western would not threaten after that.
We’ve seen lots of signs of growth from this team, and this was another. Responding in this kind of environment is not something that should be taken for granted.
2. The game could have turned in the second period. Back to back major penalties on Western Michigan — if we’re being fair, one of them was sketch — gave UMD a five on three power play for over three minutes.
Ben Steeves — who else? — cashed in on a great one-timer from — where else? — the right circle 31 seconds into the lonnnnnnnnng five on three. That came with 2:27 left in the second period. When the period ended, UMD had attempted three shots and put one on goal.
I’ve been around long enough to know that you don’t ever apologize for winning. But if you had told me after the second period that UMD would end the game with a half-dozen goals with just the one coming on the power play, well you could have taken me for quite a bit of money.
It wasn’t very good. Players trying to beat Western defenders one on one, and once Western cleared the zone once, it never felt like UMD ever got back in a good setup. Credit to the Bronco killers, it felt like — whether it was five on three or five on four — they kept UMD off balance a lot of the time.
3. And credit to Matthew Thiessen. Sometimes, a penalty kill does a great job, and the power play struggles to get good looks.
Western Michigan’s power play, which was clicking at nearly 29 percent coming in and led the NCHC, showed exactly why it’s so dangerous. The Broncos were zipping the puck all over, and they have a lot of threats. Galambos was free for left-circle one-timers on more than one occasion, and he caught the iron at least once. Dylan Wendt, who has 17 goals, whiffed on a great chance in the third period. Sam Colangelo (14 goals) was somehow only credited with four shots but was around the puck a ton in the offensive zone.
Thiessen (37 saves) was strong. Yeah, they got three by him, but he made big save after big save on Western’s three power plays, totaling 11 saves over those six minutes.
Easier said than done against this team, but UMD could use a few more shot blocks. Western makes it tough. The puck movement they generate creates shot lanes. We’ll see if penalty kill architect Adam Krause can find a way to get players’ sticks in better spots to affect that movement.
4. Menghini keeps on keeping on. UMD’s first goal was pressure by Luke Johnson on the boards, then a puck to the middle for Menghini, who had his toes north and got behind the defense.
UMD’s fifth goal, 19 seconds after Western made it a 4-3 game, came after Jack Smith forced a turnover and Menghini got going north.
There isn’t a lot of fancy to Menghini’s game. He plays like his hair’s on fire, but almost everything he does goes north. Smith and Johnson were strong compliments on Friday, with good sticks to help keep plays alive in the offensive zone.
With the injuries UMD is dealing with, these young guys have been forced to grow up quickly.
“I think we’ve tried to find some areas for a little bit of a slowdown in the offensive zone,” associate coach Adam Krause said last week of Menghini, “where he can maybe, instead of going a little bit fast, he can take a step back and maybe put himself in a little bit more of an offensive zone position to create some offense and lead to some more production.”
That’ll come with time. The north mentality served itself well on Friday. It was almost akin to what was discussed in the preview blog, only about the UMD-Ohio State women’s series. Pressure, force loose pucks, and go north. It’s almost like UMD took Western’s game and shoved it back in their face, to at least a certain extent.
5. It was a big night for the video review monitor. The referees reviewed both Western Michigan major penalties in the second period. Tim Washe blasted Jack Smith into the end boards on a hit I got a very good look at live. I never saw a replay, but was not surprised they levied a major penalty to Washe for it. Smith left the game for the rest of the second, but came out for the third and assisted on UMD’s final two goals. They also reviewed Daniel Hilsendager’s hard hit on Luke Bast and ruled that a major penalty, a call I wasn’t as sure I agreed with. It looked like Bast turned at the last second, and the contact wasn’t as hard as Washe’s hit. But we don’t turn down power plays, especially when UMD is dead last in the NCHC in power play/penalty kill differential (minus-19).
Western coach Pat Ferschweiler challenged Fischer’s goal in the third period, saying it was kicked in. Based on the replay that was shown, it was not, though it did appear Fischer may have intentionally redirected the puck with his foot. That’s okay in college hockey, where the rule book requires a “distinct kicking motion” for a goal to be taken away. The referees took less than a minute and a half to rule that the goal would stand.
Biondi’s goal wasn’t detected on the ice, so they had to review that for about 90 seconds to confirm it crossed the goal line.
The reviews were swift (I think 90 seconds was the longest one), and there is no reason to dispute any of the calls outside of the Hilsendager major, which I will give them the benefit of the doubt on because we were not shown a replay in the arena.
6. Can UMD take the next step? The short-handed Bulldogs are now 5-3-1 in their last nine games, but they’ve had two previous chances in this stretch to sweep weekend series on Saturday. Both of them — Dec. 2 against Omaha and last Saturday against Colorado College — ended in overtime losses.
This is a process, no doubt, and the Bulldogs did very well to find a way to win Friday while missing a lot of regular contributors. Only two of them — Carter Loney and Zach Stejskal — are expected back at any point this season,
UMD mostly has played well in its last two games. There was a lull in the second period of Saturday’s overtime loss to Colorado College, but the Bulldogs bounced back with a strong third. On Friday, there were a couple of moments where UMD got stuck in its own zone, most notably before Galambos’ first period goal. Outside of those, it was another strong 60 minutes.
Finding a way to carry that over, weather the inevitable storm that’s coming on Saturday, and getting points out of this game would be a massive step in the right direction.
7. Elsewhere in the NCHC on Friday, North Dakota took first place in the league by beating St. Cloud State 5-3. Jackson Blake scored twice and chipped in an assist, while Owen McLaughlin and Cameron Berg also had multi-point nights. Ludvig Persson stopped 34 of 37 for the win.
Denver broke open a close game with four second-period goals to win at Omaha 6-2. Jack Devine (two goals, three assists) and Massimo Rizzo (one goal, three assists) led the way offensively.
Tommy Middleton’s goal with 1:36 left stood as the game-winner for Colorado College, which got by Miami 2-1. Noah Laba leveled the game in the third period with a power play goal. Kaidan Mbereko made 27 saves, including 16 in the second period as Miami outshot the Tigers 16-6 but failed to add to its lead, which Matthew Barbolini had given the RedHawks in the first period.
Denver takes sole possession of third in the league with 20 points. Western sits in fourth with 17, then it’s Colorado College at 16 points and UMD at 15.
8. The UMD women were blanked at Ohio State Friday, falling 3-0 to the top-ranked Buckeyes. Ohio State scored once in each period, and outshot the Bulldogs 38-14. UMD also blocked 27 Buckeye shot attempts, so the defense was predictably busy.
UMD did get forwards Gabby Krause and Mary Kate O’Brien back from injury, while Katie Davis remained out of the lineup. Hailey MacLeod started in goal and made 35 saves. The teams rematch Saturday at 1pm.
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Don’t forget: We’re a 6pm Eastern puck drop on Saturday, meaning we hit the air at 4:30 back in Duluth. On KDAL, we’re followed by the Timberwolves and Oklahoma City, the two best teams in the Western Conference, so it’ll be a relatively quick postgame show.
Back pregame with lines. We’ll see what UMD does in goal after Thiessen played well Friday.
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