OXFORD, Ohio — Overtime is often referred to as “free hockey”, but recently for Miami it has been no bargain.
The RedHawks scored twice in the first period only to see Rensselaer rally to a 3-2 OT win at Cady Arena on Saturday.
Miami dropped its fourth game in its last five and has scored just 10 goals (2.0 average) in that span.
In the 3-on-3 overtime era that started in 2021-22, the RedHawks have won just once in 24 extra sessions.
This series concludes at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: With 9:42 left in the first period and 15 seconds into a power play, John Beaton teed up Felix Caron for a one-timer on the left faceoff dot, and Caron beat Miami goalie Ethan Dahlmeir short side to give Rensselaer the early lead.
Just 19 seconds later, the RedHawks answered, as a seeing-eye Hampus Rydqvist wrister from the blue line eluded Engineers goalie Noah Giesbrecht.
Miami (3-4-2) took its only lead of the game with 58 seconds left in the opening frame. Johnny Waldron corralled a loose puck along the goal line, batted a shot into the crease on his forehand and Matt Choupani was able to poke the puck into the net.
But RPI (3-3-1) tied it at two seven minutes into the middle stanza. Jeremy Payant stole a puck loose puck skating through the neutral zone to set up a 2-on-1, and he slid a pass to Jagger Tapper in the slot which Tapper one-timed just inside the glove side post.
At the 29-second mark of overtime, Elliott McDermott fired a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that Dahlmeir stopped, but the rebound rolled right to Jakob Lee, who roofed the loose puck from the slot.
STATS: Choupani’s goal was his fourth of the season, tops on the team outright. That was his eighth point, tying him with Colby Ambrosio for the RedHawks’ lead.
Rydqvist snapped a 26-game goal-less streak, with his last marker coming on Dec. 30 at Niagara.
Waldron and Christophe Fillion both picked up assists to extend their points streaks to three games. Waldron is 0-3-3 in that span and Fillion has a goal and three markers.
Also picking up assists were Blake Mesenburg — his first of the season to go along with a pair of goals — and Dylan Moulton, who earned his first point of 2024-25.
— Miami scored on the power play for the fourth straight game, going 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) in that span and finishing 1 of 3 on the night.
— Believe it or not, this was the first time in 25 games the RedHawks scored more than once in the first period. The last time Miami netted multiple goals in the opening frame was vs. Western Michigan on Jan. 13, the last game the RedHawks won last season and their only NCHC victory.
— In other bizarre stats, Miami finished with 22 shots, and apparently that’s one too many. The RedHawks were 3-0 when firing 21 or fewer shots in a game this season but dropped to 0-4-2 when recording 22 or more.
— MU dropped to 1-11-12 (.292) in overtime since the transition to 3-on-3 in 2021-22. The RedHawks’ lone OT win in that span came on Oct. 27, 2023, with Waldron scoring the decisive goal at the 21-second mark.
Miami has just one win in its last 36 extra sessions, going 1-13-22 (.333) since its 3-2 win at Colorado College on Nov. 17, 2018.
Ties were much more frequent prior to the 3-on-3 era.
— Also: The RedHawks’ first 3×3 overtime was at Ferris State on Oct. 3, 2021, which the Bulldogs won on a shorthanded goal, 3-on-4.
Giesbrecht was a member of that FSU team.
THOUGHTS: Miami scored in the final minute of the first period to take a 2-1 lead and all of the momentum into the locker room, having also erased a 1-0 deficit on the Rydqvist goal on the next shift.
But apparently the RedHawks left all of that energy, that verve, in the locker room.
A couple of strong shifts at the end got Miami to nine shots for the middle stanza, but of the 11 allowed, most were high-percentage chances and many were off of turnovers or other unforced errors.
The defensive mistakes — by both forwards and defensemen — was disheartening on a team that has already made significant strides in that facet of the game.
RPI scored the lone goal of the period to even the score but could’ve potted several more if it wasn’t for Dahlmeir and the Engineers missing the net.
League play starts next week and every team in the conference will capitalize on mistakes at a higher rate.
— At the second media break of the second period, Miami coach Anthony Noreen confronted his entire D-corps and appeared to call them out for their poor play during that frame.
That seemed to help, as the RedHawks were definitely better in the closing minutes of that period.
— Noreen reviewed a hit on Casper Nassen along the boards in the second period for a potential major, and the call was upheld. It definitely looked like a minor, but a review doesn’t give officials that option — it’s a major or nothing.
— On the overtime goal, Fillion appeared to peel off McDermott, who fired the initial shot, in favor of Lee, and Lee (who was covered by Moulton) juked for inside position to help him get open to bury the rebound.
The Miami skaters argued after the goal, probably over a possible pick by Lee, but it looks like he earned his space in the slot legitimately.
— It’s tough to see the attendance at 1,476. That was one of the smallest crowds with students in session in Cady Arena memory. Numbers typically pick up in the winter months…hoping that’s the case this season.
LINEUP CHANGES: Up front, Tanyon Bajzer returned to the lineup after missing the past three games. He replaced Teodor Forssander in the fourth line, right wing slot.
Noreen also flipped Frankie Carogioiello and Fillion on the third line, with Carogioiello shifting from left wing to right and Fillion moving to the left side.
On defense, the same seven dressed but Zane Demsey and Spencer Cox moved from the third pairing to second, and the Rihards Simanovics-Conner Hutchison pairing dropped to Nos. 5 and 6.
Dahlmeir started his second straight game.
STANDINGS: In the way-too-early PairWise department, Miami improved to No. 48 at the end of all Friday games.
GRADES
FORWARDS: D. This corps finished with a combined 13 shots, with one finding the net. The fourth line was the most impressive — Noreen said so in his post-game presser — as Mesenburg picked up an assist, Bajzer and Brayden Morrison played with a ton of energy. Raimonds Vitolins, who has played very well this far, was invisible except when he was stripped at the left point for a shorthanded breakaway that was denied. Carogioiello made a couple of uncharacteristically egregious turnovers as well. Not much from Nassen either, as he did not have a shot on goal. Not one of the better nights for the MU forwards.
DEFENSEMEN: C-. Take out the second period and this group would be graded much higher. Rydqvist was listed as the seventh defenseman for the second straight game, and even if you take out the goal, in limited minutes this was arguably his best game of the season defensively. Freshman Michael Quinn has already vaulted his way onto the top pairing and has a ton of talent, but he made a couple of key mistakes, as did Hutchison. Moulton led all skaters with four shots.
GOALTENDING: B. The first goal Dahlmeir allowed was an absolute snipe, and the second came on a 2-on-1. He made the initial save in overtime but a huge rebound came out the slot for an A-plus chance and GWG. Dahlmeir kept Miami in the game in the second period when the team went on its ozone expedition. He’s 62 of 66 (.939) since his debut in Big Rapids and with his size, he appears well suited to handle face NCHC opponents, as he can cut off the top part of the net.
FINAL THOUGHTS: From the postgame presser…
Noreen: “We need to get better. We need to get better in our team game, we need to get better in our mindset and resiliency, we need to be better in all facets.”
He’s 100 percent correct.
Rensselaer was big, physical, well-coaching, defended well and got solid goaltending. The Engineers deserved this win.
But RPI won 10 games last season and in its toughest tests against four Hockey East opponents, the Engineers were 0-4 and got outscored, 20-7.
Next weekend, Miami begins its 24-game slate in the NCHC, which has four teams ranked in the top 10, and all eight of the other conference members are receiving top-20 votes.
If Miami’s effort on Friday, which wasn’t good enough to beat Rensselaer on home ice, was a microcosm of what we’ll be seeing during the league portion of the 2024-25 schedule, this could be a very, very long winter.
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