For 40 minutes, Miami dominated its first road game of 2024, generating more energy, creating more scoring chances, leading in shots on goal, and — most importantly heading into the third period — MU had netted the game’s only goal.
But No. 18 Colorado College owned the final stanza across the board, scoring 21 seconds in and again with less than two minutes remaining on a tally that Miami challenged to edge the RedHawks, 2-1 at Ed Robson Arena on Friday.
Miami’s winless streak vs. the Tigers has reached 12 games (0-10-2), with the RedHawks dropping to 0-3 in this building.
The teams wrap up their weekend series at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: Miami (7-12-2) took the lead with 3:43 left in the first period when Matthew Barbolini outhustled and outmuscled a Colorado College defender to a loose puck along the half wall, penetrated to the goal line on the left side of the net and caromed a wrister off the back of Tigers goalie Kaidan Mbereko‘s pads.
The Tigers’ Chase Foley whipped the puck toward the net from the point, and Noah Laba redirected it over Miami goalie Bruno Bruveris’ shoulder just 21 seconds into the third period on the power play, tying the score.
Colorado College (12-8-1) took the lead with 1:36 left on a one-time blast by Tommy Middleton from the right faceoff circle that snuck under Bruveris’ glove.
Miami challenged the onside status of the play, but after a long delay it was ruled legal. And since the RedHawks had already used their timeout, they were assessed a delay of game minor and finished the game shorthanded.
STATS: Barbolini’s goal was his ninth of the season, tying him with P.J. Fletcher for the team lead. Barbolini has led the team in markers with 10 each of the past two seasons.
William Hallen earned the primary assist on Barbolini’s goal, his fourth point in eight games.
Jack Clement picked up his seventh helper of the season, tops among Miami defensemen.
— Bruveris’ shutout streak ended at 111:15 with the tying goal in the third period. He earned a shutout at Niagara and earned the save last Saturday before finally surrendering a marker late in this game.
— Miami failed to score in two power play chances and fell to 1-for-28 (3.6 percent) on the man-advantage in its last eight games. The RedHawks are fifth-last in Division I on the power play.
ANALYSIS: Two things happened at the end of the second period, the gestalt of which led to Miami’s demise.
With 3:13 left in that frame, Barbolini tried to hit Connor Mayer along the boards at center ice, and he went in awkwardly and skated off gingerly.
He didn’t play the balance of the period, and after taking one short shift early in the third he did not return.
Then there was the blatant tripping penalty on center Raimonds Vitolins in the corner with 29 seconds left.
Colorado College scored 21 seconds into the third period on the carried-over power play, and without Barbolini, Miami could not manufacture any offense down the stretch.
The RedHawks were outshot, 12-5 in the final 20 minutes and ultimately outscored, 2-0.
It’s unclear what happened to Barbolini and if his early departure will affect him beyond this game, but his absence was clearly noticeable in the third period.
He has been the lifeline of Miami’s forward corps the past four years, and any man games lost would be devastating.
— Speaking of injuries, D Michael Feenstra is out long-term with a shoulder injury, but there is a possibility he could return before the end of the season.
— Some good news: CBS Sports called G Logan Neaton’s LBI “week-to-week”. When he was helped off the ice last Saturday at Cady Arena.
It was initially feared he could be lost for the season.
— The go-ahead goal challenge was a high-risk move, since Miami had already used its timeout. That meant a loss would result in a delay of game penalty, and that’s what happened. So instead of a potential 6-on-5 in the final 1 1/2 minutes, MU had to pull Bruveris just get to even strength, which rarely results in a tying goal.
The views CBS Sports offered looked innocuous, but apparently other angles available to officials showed goal scorer Middleton dragging his skate on the blue line by mere inches, justifying the lengthy delay by the officials.
— Bruveris was excellent overall. He made an incredible sprawling save on a rip from the high slot in the first period, and he seemed to be a step ahead of the Colorado College offense in terms of reaction all night.
The second goal seemed to slip through his armpit, but still, he was 28-for-30 (.933) and raised his season save percentage to .910.
— Freshman defenseman Rihards Simanovics seems to be nudging his way into a power play role. This was one of his best games, as he was able to elude several defenders in the offensive zone to create scoring chances.
— This building has hosted hockey for less than three years, but Miami is 0-3 with all of the game-winning goals against coming in overtime or in the final two minutes like this contest. The RedHawks lost both contests it played at Robson in overtime during its first-ever series in this building Feb. 18-19, 2022.
— Despite not earning any points, Ryan Sullivan, Max Dukovac and Thomas Daskas were standouts up front.
— On the CBS crew: This was obviously an undercard matchup of the NCHC on CBS Sports slate, but Alex Heinert and Dave Starman always make the teams they are covering seem first-class, and they sincerely mean what they say.
There’s a ton of arrogance in media, and in sports media it’s especially egregious. Piling on is easy, but being constructive and seeking out positives like they do is harder.
LINEUP CHANGES: Other than Bruveris taking over the starting goaltending role for the injured Neaton, the only other change was D Robby Drazner replacing fellow blueliner Spencer Cox.
It was the third time in the last seven games Cox has been scratched. MU has scored just five goals in those contests playing without Cox.
FINAL THOUGHTS: No doubt Miami’s overall effort has been substantially better in recent weeks, but ultimately this is the type of game that can’t end up in the loss column.
Not when your team was already 1-8-1 in league play entering Friday, seven points clear of the field in the NCHC cellar.
The last 20 minutes this team seemed gassed. Maybe it was the altitude. But Colorado College hadn’t won a league game at Robson all season.
The Tigers deserve a ton of credit for their level of play and pulling out the win.
When it mattered most, Miami lacked killer instinct, and the final score reflected that.
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