The RedHawks fought to a series split with the UMD Bulldogs this past weekend, securing three of six NCHC points, boosting their NPI ranking to No. 21 and earning their first national ranking of the season at No. 17.
Although it’s early, Miami has a real opportunity to keep stacking points in NCHC play. Now sitting at 2-2-0 in league play and 7-3-0 overall, the RedHawks are tied for second place with six league points.
Taking care of business at home and pulling off a few NCHC road wins will help keep the NPI climbing and strengthen their push for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The RedHawks shot themselves in the foot in several instances this weekend and still managed to come away with a series split. One glaring issue continues to be special teams. Miami has been dominant during 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 play but has struggled to capitalize on the man advantage and, more importantly, stay out of the penalty box.
Putting things into perspective, Miami is allowing just 1.9 goals against per game and has been elite defensively, blocking shots and clearing shooting lanes in the slot. The team has 87 total blocked shots, led by shot-blocking machine Ryder Thompson with 19.
The RedHawks are also allowing just 21.9 shots on goal per game, speaking to the significant improvements of this defensive corps. There just needs to be more scoring in timely moments, and this team can truly reach new heights.
Greasy Goals
Every goal in this series split was a greasy goal.
Ethan Hay drove to the net and muscled one home, David Deputy sifted one through a screening Matouš Kucharčík, Kucharčík tipped one past Axelsson, and Layne Loomer scored off a Ryder Thompson shot-pass off the back wall.
Those are the types of goals it takes to win tight-checking NCHC games.
Power-less Power Play
One of the major downsides of the weekend was special teams, particularly the continued struggles of the power play in NCHC play.
The RedHawks went scoreless on the man advantage over the weekend, going 0-for-7. Miami is now converting at just an 18.6% rate on the season despite drawing plenty of opportunities with their size and speed (43).
The shorthanded goal Friday night was especially costly. A poor turnover from Doug Grimes near the blue line allowed UMD to break out on a two-on-one. Ty Hanson, one of the leading Hobey Baker candidates in college hockey and a defenseman, buried the opportunity past Drobac.
“Our opponent (UMD) is extremely talented, and they can make you pay if you make a mistake. You make an uncharacteristic mistake, they get one chance, and it goes in the back of the net,” Noreen said.
Another instance that comes to mind was the RedHawks negating their own power play when Kocha Delic took an unnecessary tripping penalty deep in the offensive zone, bringing the man advantage to an end.
Faceoffs have been a real strength, especially on the man advantage, led by Ilia Morozov, who has made significant progress in the circle, 120 wins in 10 games! The team ranks 17th in college hockey in faceoffs, winning 52.5% of its draws.
Too Many Penalties
It was the same story as the St. Thomas weekend for the RedHawks: too many trips to the box.
Miami took nine minor penalties over the weekend, absolutely way too many. Once again, they consisted of stick and undisciplined penalties, including tripping, interference, slashing, cross-checking, boarding and roughing.
The team has taken 45 total penalties through 10 games, averaging 4.5 per game. That’s 101 total penalty minutes, including 43 minors and one major.
The penalty kill stopped 8-of-9 UMD power-play opportunities, but that was without their No. 1 forward, Max Plante. Against the powerhouses of the NCHC, including Denver, Western Michigan and North Dakota, those opportunities will come back to bite you.
The penalty kill is now operating at an 81.6% success rate on the season, allowing eight goals on 43 opposing power plays. That’s simply too many opportunities and leaves Miami around the middle of the pack nationally.
Rising Loomer
Layne Loomer was the real bright spot of the weekend and is adjusting to the NCHC quickly. He simply knows hockey and where to be at the right time. He’s about as versatile as it gets.
Loomer led the team in game-score impact on Ryan Sikes’ game graphic, posting a plus-2.00 rating.
“I thought Layne was one of the real bright spots in the lineup. I thought he was excellent,” Noreen said. “Layne was making their defense turn. He was winning races, winning battles, second efforts, getting down and around the net.”
His Saturday goal, the lone RedHawk marker, was a goal-scorer’s goal. Ryder Thompson banked a shot off the back wall, and Loomer then banked it from the side of the net off Axelsson and into the goal.
“I thought that sequence was exactly what we want to be. That’s what we want our hockey team to look like. Maybe that’s what it takes in this league, at this level,” Noreen said.
Noreen bumped Loomer up to the second line late in the second period Saturday, alongside Ryan Smith and Ilia Morozov, and it paid off. Expect to see more of that moving forward, along with Loomer getting additional opportunities on special teams.
Drobac Solidifies No. 1 Role
UMD led in expected goals both nights, but Drobac was up to the task and kept the RedHawks in it on numerous occasions. He made several massive stops, particularly on the penalty kill.
UMD led 2.7-2.1 in expected goals Friday and 3.5-2.7 on Saturday.
It’s clear that this staff believes Drobac is the guy, and I’d expect to see him between the pipes most of the time moving forward, with a few non-conference starts potentially going to Yegor Yegorov.
Noreen had high praise for Drobac after Saturday night’s game, particularly considering the quality of chances UMD generated.
“That’s about as good a performance as you’re going to get based on the chances and the quality of shots they had. I thought we did a pretty good job in front of him cleaning up second chances, but he made some really big first looks,” Noreen said.
The RedHawks have plenty to build on after a competitive weekend against the No. 6 team in the country. Noreen emphasized the importance of keeping that belief and learning from the opportunities they had to close out a series and take this team to the next level.
“We need to have another week exactly like we did last week, and hopefully we wind up finding ourselves in one of these situations again where we have a chance to close a team out. Let’s learn from it and be better suited next time we get in,” Noreen said.
Miami looks to continue building momentum heading into a weekend hosting Omaha at Goggin, with the Mavericks coming off a series sweep of St. Cloud State.
Hopefully, two good crowds await the RedHawks this upcoming weekend.
Author
