OXFORD, Ohio — Sixty-five seconds into its series opener vs. Minn.-Duluth, it looked Miami was finally destined for its first conference win of 2023-24.
But following the RedHawks’ two-goal outburst in the first minute-plus, the Bulldogs chiseled away at that early lead and salvaged a 3-3 tie at Cady Arena on Friday.
Minn.-Duluth won the three-round shootout for an extra league point, 2-0. The RedHawks earned their first league point but remain winless in NCHC play (0-6-1).
The teams wrap up their weekend series at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: At the 18 second mark, Miami defenseman Jack Clement flipped a wrist shot from the blue line that pinballed to teammate P.J. Fletcher in front of the net. Fletcher grabbed the loose puck, took a stride toward the side of the net and buried the backhander.
Forty-seven seconds later, Dylan Moulton sprung John Waldron loose with a long outlet pass. Waldron took the puck at the blue line, skated in with a defender pursuing and jammed a forehand shot through goalie Zach Stejskal.
Minn.-Duluth (4-8-4) finally found the net 1:44 into the second period when Ben Steeves tipped in a blueline wrister by Owen Gallatin at the top of the crease.
The Bulldogs tied it just 3:07 later on a Steeves one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle that trickled through Miami goalie Logan Neaton directly off a faceoff win to start a power play.
Minn.-Duluth took its only lead of the game when Cole Spicer whipped a shot inside the stick side post from the high slot with 15:54 left in regulation.
Miami (5-8-2) pulled even 84 seconds later when Clement centered a pass to Raimonds Vitolins, who quickly slid the puck to Fletcher on the left wing, and he slipped it behind Skejskal.
Following an uneventful overtime that saw just three total shots on goal, Quinn Olsen and Steeves both scored in the shootout while Matthew Barbolini and Waldron were denied, giving the Bulldogs the second league point.
STATS: It was the second two-goal game of Fletcher’s Miami career, with his other multi-tally contest coming Feb. 18, 2022 at Colorado College.
Fletcher has scored four goals in his last five games and is second on the team with seven markers.
Waldron is third on the RedHawks after netting his fifth goal of the season and his second in as many games.
Clement finished with a pair of assists, his second multi-helper game of 2023-24.
Vitolins notched his third assist in three games, and Moulton’s helper was his second point of the season.
— Miami is now 1-10-15 (.212) in overtime under the current coaching staff.
— MU’s power play slipped to 3-for-34 (8.8 percent) in the team’s last 10 games. The Bulldogs’ man-advantage goal was the first allowed by Miami in four contests.
— The RedHawks have been outscored, 19-8 in the second period this season.
— This is the fourth straight game Miami was not outshot, as the teams finished with 30 SOG apiece. That’s the longest such streak for the RedHawks since they went six games tied or ahead on the shot counter from Oct. 13 to Nov. 2, 2018.
ANALYSIS: Miami’s first period was one of its best of the season, as the RedHawks doubled up UMD in shots, 14-7.
But MU couldn’t sustain that dominance and the Bulldogs were the much better team in the middle frame.
Miami looked rejuvenated in the third period, and both teams played well in one of the more exciting home stanzas of the RedHawks’ season.
Both teams were extremely cautious in the 3-on-3, and the Bulldogs went 2-for-2 in the shootout while MU came up empty on both of its attempts.
So there’s that consistency thing again. Miami played 40 strong minutes, and if it had put up a better fight in the second period, this game would’ve ended up in the win column.
That said, the Bulldogs are better than a four-win team. They have lots of speed, move the puck well and get sticks and bodies in the lanes to cut down opponents’ scoring chances.
The fact UMD is seventh in the eight-team NCHC tells you how good the conference is.
— The NHL is looking into tweaking its 3-on-3 rules, and this overtime was a prime example of why this current format is even worse in college.
At least in the NHL teams receive a participation point for making it to overtime. An OT loss in the NCAA means zero points.
As a result, teams have understandably become extremely cautious in the extra session, since possession is so important with only six skaters on the ice, and too often that makes for five minutes of boring hockey.
We’ve been saying since the inception of the NCHC that 4-on-4 is better in overtime, and when the NHL adopted that format one team scored about half the time.
At the very least hockey needs to take a page from basketball and add an over-and-back delay of game penalty to curtail the glorified figure skating routines we regularly witness in 3-on-3 [/rant].
— Speaking of rants, Miami had an offensive zone faceoff with 0.9 seconds left in the first period and once again left Neaton in net. It’s physically impossible to lose a faceoff and have an opponent shoot a puck the length of the ice and into an open net in less than 2.5 seconds, but it’s very possible to win a draw and beat a goalie in that span, especially with an extra attacker on. If nothing else it’s a chance to practice 6-on-5 in a game situation that has burned Miami since, well, the 2009 national championship game.
LINEUP CHANGES: Ryan Sullivan returned from injury, giving Miami more much-needed depth up front. He replaced Teddy Lagerback as the RedHawks again went with 11 forwards and eight defensemen.
On defense, Spencer Cox was a scratch for just the second time this season, as Axel Kumlin — a healthy scratch in the RedHawks’ last game — returned to the ice.
GRADES
FORWARDS: B. The top line of Vitolins (0-1-1), Fletcher (2-0-2) and Matthew Barbolini was excellent. Barbolini was held off the scoresheet but dished out several key hits as he often double-shifted with Miami short a forward. Waldron’s goal was an outstanding individual effort, and William Hallen seems to improve every game. Sullivan didn’t look quite 100 percent but was still a factor and should get better as he logs more minutes.
DEFENSEMEN: B. Kumlin and Michael Feenstra had their names pulled first from the Miami lineup hat, so they comprised the seemingly-random top pairing. All eight D-men played pretty well, and Clement picked up a pair of well-earned assists. Zane Demsey rivaled Barbolini in the physicality department, as he dished out at least four quality hits. A lack of Cox hurt Miami, since he’s easily the best power play quarterback on the team.
GOALTENDING: C. UMD scored its first goal on a tip in front of the net, but the other two were quality blasts from the top of the faceoff circles, with one sneaking through Neaton’s pads. He made a few quality stops and his rebound control was very good.
STANDINGS: By earning two points, Minn.-Duluth pulled five ahead of Miami in the NCHC standings (6 to 1).
Omaha (7 points) and Colorado College (8 points) sit in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The RedHawks are No. 42 out of 64 teams in the PairWise.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The hockey gods were fair on Friday.
Miami was the better team in the first period and scored two unanswered goals.
UMD was the better team in the second period and scored two unanswered goals.
The teams played equally hard in the third period and both scored once.
Overtime could’ve substituted as a cure for insomnia, as both teams were super conservative and as a result, the game ended in a tie.
It’s obviously early but Saturday’s game represents a six-point swing that could see the Bulldogs pull as many as eight points ahead of Miami, or the RedHawks could close their gap vs. UMD to two.
But to earn a win in the series finale MU can’t afford to take a period off like it did on Friday.
View From the Glass 