For the first time in nearly five years, Miami is enjoying a three-game winning streak.
The RedHawks scored the first three goals and rode that lead to a 4-1 win over Canisius at Cady Arena on Saturday, completing a weekend sweep and improving to 10-0 all-time vs. the Golden Griffins.
The last time Miami (3-1) ran off three straight victories was Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2018 against Colgate and Omaha during a 4-0 stretch.
Canisius (0-2) is also the last team the RedHawks swept in a weekend series, as they took two in Buffalo last October.
RECAP: With 3:55 left in the first period, Ryan Sullivan tipped home a Spencer Cox wrister from the left point for his first goal in a Miami sweater.
The RedHawks’ Matthew Barbolini stole the puck deep in the offensive zone and teed up a centering feed to Raimonds Vitolins for a one-timer from the right faceoff dot that beat Canisius goalie David Fessenden far post with two seconds left in the opening frame.
Midway through the middle stanza, Miami’s John Waldron carried the puck from the right point into the slot and picked the bottom stick side corner of the net with a pinpoint wrist shot on the power play, making it 3-0.
The Griffins cut the deficit to two on a laser from the side of the net by Max Kuznetsov that hit just inside the far post and immediately bounced out. It was initially ruled no goal, but following a five-minute review it was determined the puck cleared the goal line.
Barbolini sealed it with 4:57 to play, blasting a slap shot from the high slot off a one-time feed by Waldron that hit the end boards with such force that it caromed in off the back of Fessenden.
STATS: The top line of Barbolini, Waldron and Vitolins led all scorers with two points apiece, as each finished with a goal and an assist.
Barbolini leads the team with six points, and Waldron and Artur Turansky are tied for second with five. Vitolins scored for the second straight game.
Barbolini and Waldron also have points in each of their first four games, just the 11th and 12th time that has happened in the Cady Arena era.
Barbolini also recorded points in six straight contests to open 2022-23, tied for the second-longest season-opening points streak in that 17-year span.
Here is the list of players that have accomplished that feat since this rink opened in 2006:
| Skater | Games | Pts. | Season |
| Carter Camper | 9 | 9-15-24 | 2010-11 |
| Matthew Barbolini | 6 | 3-4-7 | 2022-23 |
| Jack Roslovic | 6 | 4-3-7 | 2015-16 |
| Blake Coleman | 5 | 3-4-7 | 2014-15 |
| Matthew Barbolini | 4 | 3-3-6 | 2023-24 |
| John Waldron | 4 | 2-3-5 | 2023-24 |
| Karch Bachman | 4 | 3-2-5 | 2019-20 |
| Sean Kuraly | 4 | 2-4-6 | 2013-14 |
| Alden Hirschfeld | 4 | 0-4-4 | 2011-12 |
| Jared Palmer | 4 | 2-4-6 | 2009-10 |
| Andy Miele | 4 | 1-4-5 | 2009-10 |
| Brian Kaufman | 4 | 1-6-7 | 2008-09 |
— Sullivan scored his first goal as a RedHawk and has two points in three games.
— Cox has an assist in all three games he has played, and William Hallen picked up a helper, giving him four points in his last three contests.
— Hampus Rydqvist and P.J. Fletcher also notched assists. It was Rydqvist’s second in as many games, and Fletcher has three points in four contests.
— Logan Neaton stopped 17 of 18 shots to earn the win, raising his save percentage to .919. He has quadrupled his career victory total, as he had just one entering this season and is 3-1 in 2023-24.
— Miami scored twice in the first period again, the third time in four games the team has recorded multiple goals in that stanza. The RedHawks have scored eight of their 17 goals in the opening 20 minutes.
— Miami outshot Canisius, 39-18, the first time it has doubled up an opponent in SOG since Oct. 7, 2018 vs. Alabama-Huntsville. It had not finished with 21 more shots than an opponent since that same game, when it led on the shot counter, 41-11.
ANALYSIS: The scoreboard says there was only one goal difference between the games Friday and Saturday, but the RedHawks were much better overall for 60 minutes in this win.
Miami seemed sluggish the first half of the third period, but Canisius took a penalty 10 minutes in and MU appeared rejuvenated during the ensuing power play.
While the RedHawks didn’t score on that man-advantage, Barbolini did three minutes later to wrap up the win.
Overall, Miami was solid in all three facets. The lone complaint would be that the RedHawks got a little loose at times and attempted too many razzle-dazzle passes that almost always never work and far too often result in odd-man chances the other way.
Canisius didn’t capitalize on any of those miscues but tougher competition later in the season certainly will.
— It’s very early and Miami hasn’t faced an elite opponent yet, but Neaton has stepped up in a major way and may have changed the storyline for the RedHawks in net.
Freshman Bruno Bruveris is expected be eligible for the Arizona State series, and it appeared he would have the edge on the starting job, but Neaton has improved seemingly every game and could end up logging a significant numbers of minutes between the pipes this season.
In four previous seasons, Neaton has never played in more than nine games and his career high in minutes is 382 (he has logged 244 already in 2023-24).
— The start to this game was extremely physical, and Thomas Daskas rocked Hudson Lambert three minutes in, sending Lambert down the tunnel briefly.
MU completely dominated out of the chute, outshooting the Griffins, 9-0 the first 11 minutes before going on the PK.
— Speaking of scary potential injuries, Vitolins was hammered away from the puck in the second period and had to be helped off the ice. He missed the balance of that frame but returned for the final frame and picked up the secondary assist on Barbolini’s clinching tally.
— We try to avoid criticizing officials, but in this case interference clearly should have been called. The play was reviewed for contact to the head, for which no penalty was ultimately assessed. Other minor infractions under reviews cannot be given via instant replay, so Canisius escaped without even a minor penalty. The refs got that one wrong.
— Despite the hot start, Miami coach Chris Bergeron was booed during his intro both nights by a small but vocal student section contingent and a few others around the rink.
GRADES
FORWARDS: B. The top line was Miami’s top line and combined for three goals and three assists. This was one of Fletcher’s best games in recent history — he was all over the ice in all three zones. All the lines seemed to play well together.
DEFENSEMEN: B+. Cox and Rydqvist both had assists, and overall this corps was very good at minimizing Canisius’ offensive changes. The Griffins had very few good scoring chances all game, and that’s rarely been the case — frankly — since the 2016 class of Matthew Caito, Taylor Richart, and Chris Joyaux graduated. Cox really looked at home running the point on the power play, and if he and Barbolini can get on the same page with Cox’s prowess of putting outside shots on net and Barbolini’s pro-level ability to redirect them for goals, look out.
GOALTENDING: A-. Neaton didn’t face a ton of shots and even fewer quality chances, but he looked so much more confident than even a week ago at Ferris State. Winnipeg drafted him several years ago, so the potential is there, and hopefully he can continue to build on his early-season successes.
LINEUP CHANGES: Just one: F Brayden Sullivan dressed instead of D Zane Demsey. Miami suited up eight blueliners in the series opener and returned to a 12/7 split for this game.
Demsey has been one of the team’s better shut-down defenders since arriving in 2022-23 but is coming off shoulder surgery and the team is easing him back into full-time duty.
Morrison, who dressed for the second time, picked up a point in his Miami debut last weekend and played another strong game on the fourth line in this contest.
STANDINGS/SCHEDULE: Way-too-soon PairWise now has Miami at No. 13.
The RedHawks are in a five-way tie for most Division I wins (3) with Holy Cross, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin.
Miami is off next week, and Arizona State, which will join the NCHC in 2024-25, visits Oxford on Oct. 27-28. The teams have never played each other.
FINAL THOUGHTS: We said Friday’s game didn’t inspire confidence that this team could take a major stride forward this season, but Saturday showed promise.
Closing out games has been a RedHawks issue for years, but they did a good job of that in this game.
Defending and preventing high-percentage scoring chances has been a struggle, but Miami was solid there as well.
MU has suffered a well-documented scoring drought for multiple seasons, but the team is averaging 4.25 goals a game in a small sample size.
We’ve been teased by early success too often the past few years, but a five-year-best three-game winning streak shows the RedHawks are definitely trending positively at the two-week mark of the season.
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