In case you’re new here, the general format of the blog is that I’ll provide some sort of preview before weekend series where we discuss both teams, come back after the Friday game with some quick-hit thoughts and possibly a rant or two, then turn around a wrapup post on Monday once the games are completed.
Obviously, things are going to be a bit different in the pod, with some back-to-back games and no “normal” weekend series. My plan with the blog is to try to bring you some thoughts after every game, and previews will be generally contained in the pregame line chart posts.
Now that we’ve gotten the formalities out of the way, let’s talk about some hockey.
It was really nice to see this team play again, for starters. There’s a lot that has changed for UMD since its last game back on March 7, and not just Hunter Shepard being gone (though we’ll start there).
Ryan Fanti made his UMD debut, making the first start by a goalie not named Hunter Shepard since Nick Deery got the nod for a 5-5 home draw with Merrimack on Oct. 20, 2017. Shepard made the start the next night and would start every one of UMD’s subsequent 115 games before his eligibility was exhausted. Fanti stopped 26 of 29 and did seem to get more comfortable as the game went on. And I’ll maintain what I said in my season preview post: I don’t know who’s starting the next game, and I don’t mind that one bit.
Anyway, UMD’s somewhat-inexperienced blue line and absolutely-inexperienced goalie got better as the game went on Tuesday. That’s to be expected. The last time the Bulldogs had this many fresh faces on defense, it did take time for them to gel. There were some uneven performances along the way with five freshmen defensemen in 2017-18, but that team ended up winning it all, so I guess we could argue everything worked out.
Fanti seemed to struggle to find pucks in traffic around the net, which didn’t directly contribute to any of Omaha’s goals, but still will be something he works on. Defensively, it looked like UMD was caught out of position a couple times, even when the Mavericks didn’t score. As an example, there was a play after UMD took a 3-2 lead where Noah Cates’ stick betrayed him on an outlet pass, and Kevin Conley came screaming down Broadway with the puck, only to hit the goalpost. The middle of the rink just can’t be that wide open.
But that shouldn’t mask some strong efforts, most notably from newcomer Wyatt Kaiser. He was a presence at both ends of the rink, and quickly flashed what appears to be elite skating ability and poise. He’s not Scott Perunovich in terms of his offensive potential, but my earlier comparison to Mikey Anderson might be underselling what Kaiser can do as an offensive player. We’ll let this develop as the season goes on.
“I thought they did a good job,” head coach Scott Sandelin said of his young players. “There were some shifts for our defensemen down low and around the net, they’re a team (Omaha) that goes hard to the net.”
Matt Cairns had an assist and blocked two shots, Darian Gotz picked up an assist, and I thought Connor Kelley jumped in with both feet when he had the chance. As a group, they all need to do a better job in the defensive zone, but that will come. I like that all the youngsters showed at least some confidence with the puck on their sticks. I get they’re defensemen and defense is important, but things like positioning and reading plays can be taught and learned through experience and study. You can’t inject puck-handling confidence into players.
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The veterans up front really showed their capabilities as UMD rallied from a 2-1 deficit with a four-goal surge in the third. The Brothers Cates were a factor in both power play goals, with Jackson getting the first on a five-on-three, and Noah tipping a Nick Swaney shot to give UMD a 4-2 edge. Head coach Scott Sandelin talked about the power play losing faceoffs, which was an interesting observation because the official stats showed UMD winning eight of nine draws on its power plays. I haven’t gone back to re-watch the game yet (probably will this afternoon), but what I will say is there were a few instances in the game where UMD could have been scored as a faceoff winner but never got clean puck possession out of it. That’s a flaw in the methodology, I believe, and not in the people keeping score.
“They scored when they had to,” Sandelin said of his power play. Jackson Cates’ goal came 1:03 into the third period, after a sequence of calls late in the second gave UMD a four-on-three that became a brief five-on-three. The four-on-three sequence, especially over the last 31 seconds of the second period, was not particularly good. Too much passing and not enough shooting or movement. Things improved slightly to start the third, but then when UMD won a board battle in the right corner, the puck zipped around and Swaney found Jackson Cates for a wrist shot in the right circle.
Later in the third, UMD started a power play by winning a faceoff and controlling the puck. Swaney found space at the center point while Noah Cates — who was a beast in the offensive zone throughout — drove hard to the front of the net to tip Swaney’s shot by Saville for a valuable two-goal lead just 18 seconds into the power play.
(We had a bit of a discussion on Twitter about starting a period on the power play with the fresh sheet of ice, which I think is overrated. What might not be overrated is starting a power play out of a media timeout. When they come in the flow of action, there are times a coach can’t start a full power play unit because one or two of them may have just been on the ice. Coming out of a media timeout, you can almost always go with your No. 1 group, presumably the most dangerous players on a team. Just a thought, I have no idea if this would hold up statistically.)
Cool to see Hunter Lellig get his first career goal, too. The junior showed some promise as a freshman in 2018-19, playing some awfully thin minutes at times as the seventh defenseman. Primed for a much more significant role last season, he broke his leg during a practice before the Minnesota series in October 2019 and missed the rest of the season, meaning he didn’t play a competitive game for 409 days.
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Quick turnaround for UMD, as the Bulldogs battle Denver Wednesday (7:30pm on KDAL). The Pioneers have not played yet, so we’ll see if there’s any advantage to having played a game already but also having to deal with a back-to-back. Maybe it ends up a wash.
Either way, a heck of a challenge. Denver always plays the Bulldogs tough, and vice versa. The two programs have developed quite a rivalry over the years, with things having been mainly respectful outside of a couple skirmishes that flared up last season.
I would expect a largely clean, physical, fight-for-every-inch-of-ice affair. Looking forward to watching it unfold. Back later with the lines.
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