It’s unlikely The Cure’s “Friday, I’m In Love” will be playing in Miami’s locker room any time soon.
For the second straight Friday, the RedHawks were shut out, this time 3-0 by Omaha at Baxter Arena.
Miami has been limited to five goals in five games to start NCHC play and has been outscored, 15-2 in its last three contests.
The RedHawks dropped their seventh straight game and also extended their losing streak vs. Omaha to seven.
The teams meet in the series finale at 8:07 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: Just 3:10 into the game, Omaha (4-7) took the lead when Myles Hilman skated into the right faceoff circle and pumped a wrister into the far corner of the net.
The scored held at 1-0 until the Mavericks scored on a 2-on-1 shorthanded with 2:38 left in the middle frame. Sam Stange centered a pass to Cam Mitchell, who was denied on his initial point-blank shot by Miami goalie Ethan Dahlmeir but batted in his own rebound.
UNO sealed it off another 2-on-1, as Stange was ridden to the goal line near the end boards but found Chase LaPinta open at the top of the crease, and LaPinta redirected Stange’s pass by Dahlmeir.
STATS: Only so many positives one can make when a team is blanked, but 6-for-6 on the penalty kill is definitely one of them.
That’s the most chances Miami (3-10-2) has killed without allowing a power play goal since Jan. 20, 2023, which — coincidentally — was the Friday opener at a series at Omaha.
The RedHawks haven’t been perfect in more than six PKs since Oct. 8, 2016 at Providence when they finished 8 of 8.
Miami’s penalty killing improved to 92.7 percent, fourth-best in Division I.
On the flip side, the RedHawks have only one power play goal in their last seven games and are 0-for-9 over the past three.
And Miami allowed another shorthanded goal, No. 4 on the season, tying the RedHawks with Air Force and St. Lawrence for tops in the NCAA.
— It was Dahlmeir’s second-best start by save percentage. He stopped 29 of 32 shots, finishing at .906 and raising his season save percentage to .893.
— Miami’s scoring drought has reached 105:56, as the RedHawks netted both of their goals last Saturday in the first period.
Over its past three games, MU has scored in 1 of 9 periods while its opponents are 9-for-9.
ANALYSIS: It would be interesting to see, in whatever parallel universe Miami didn’t get scored on before most of Baxter’s fans had cracked open their concessions, how this game would have played out.
Wishful thinking? Of course. So we preface this by saying that Omaha absolutely deserved to win this game. Miami is counting the days until Simon Latcozky graduates (bad news: he’s a junior), as he has seemingly been a human wall every time the RedHawks have faced him, and the Mavericks were the better team overall, were opportunistic and capitalized on MU’s mistakes.
But the RedHawks played a solid game…for the most part, except for a couple of critical turnovers and that all-important finishing thing, which has plagued them mightily in conference play.
And that goal gave the Mavericks, backed by a large home crowd, a huge momentum boost while putting Miami on its heels, chasing the game just 190 seconds in.
So it’s possible that in an alternate reality, the RedHawks actually won or at least tied this game. But in the one we’re all living in, Omaha won, 3-0 and rightly earned three league points.
— One of the bigger differences between the shutout last Friday and this one was the feistiness. Miami did not allow itself to be pushed around but also didn’t take dumb penalties defending itself. John Emmons and William Hallen both went for roughing calls but took a Maverick with them.
— Two key blocked shots were by Ryan Sullivan and Raimonds Vitolins.
Sullivan’s clearly saved a goal on a rip from the left wing, and Vitolins needed assistance getting off the ice after taking the full brunt of a slap shot from the blue line, but he returned minutes later.
— Dahlmeir made arguably the NCHC save of the week on Hilman, who skated uncontested across the top of the crease and was cleanly robbed by Dahlmeir’s glove. The first goal was on a good shot but appeared stoppable, but he actually made the initial point-blank save on the second goal but UNO scored on the rebound, and the third was also on a 2-on-1 with an uncovered player able to jam the puck in from the top of the crease.
Dahlmeir largely controlled his rebounds and was very solid overall, and he’s also getting more aggressive in terms of playing the puck. He already has an assist and could help the offense if he can push play during line changes and on the power play.
— It wasn’t a great night for the defense corps overall, and Conner Hutchison was caught flatfooted at the point on the power play when UNO scored its shorthanded goal and he turned the puck over in the neutral zone on the Mavericks’ final tally. He’s still been a solid power play quarterback overall and made several quality outlet passes.
Dylan Moulton stood out on this corps and Michael Feenstra played well upon his return.
— I liked the nation-of-origin flags on UNO’s shoulders. Miami already has flags of its international players in the rafters at Cady Arena, so maybe flags on sweaters is something it should consider. With CHL players now eligible for NCAA spots and an increasing flood of Europeans in college hockey, the RedHawks will likely recruit more at the international level vs. domestically than ever before.
LINEUP CHANGES: Wholesale changes for Miami.
Up front, Hallen returned from injury after missing seven games, and Johnny Waldron and Vitolins were back after being healthy scratches on Saturday.
Out were Brayden Morrison, Tanyon Bajzer and Teodor Forssander.
On defense, Hampus Rydqvist was a healthy scratch after dressing for 102 straight games, and he was replaced by Feenstra, who was scratched the last nine contests.
The last time Rydqvist missed a game was Jan. 8, 2022 vs. Colorado College.
And in net, Dahlmeir and Bruno Bruveris rotated starts for the seventh straight game.
STANDINGS: Miami dropped to 0-5 in NCHC with one league point, dead last in the conference and five clear of the field. Omaha and North Dakota are tied for seventh with six points apiece.
The RedHawks held at 57th out of 64 in PairWise.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Miami is now 3-10-2.
It feels unnatural to post as much complimentary content about a team that has been outscored, 15-2 the past two weekends and is 1-10 in its last 11 games.
But if the point of this season is to change the culture, eradicate the losing mentality and work toward reestablishing this program as a perennial winner, evidence of that is abound.
The penalty kill — granted in a small sample size largely against non-NCHC opponent — has returned to a Palmer-Wingels-Miele-LoVerde-Wideman-Schilling-Weber level of efficiency.
The gestalt of the skaters during offensive zone shifts. Once again, Miami seemed to take a step forward in terms of cycling and puck possession overall, holding the puck in the O-zone for extended shifts.
The improvement of players. Casper Nassen ripped four shots on goal, and the 6-feet-4, 200-pound freshman is throwing opposing players into the boards like ragdolls then taking the puck. He seems to improve every game. Dahlmeir is another example, as he is making a case for majority share in net. Moulton, in his fifth season, still seems to be improving every week. John Emmons was promoted to third line center and is making a case for more ice time.
The losses are piling up for Miami, and after a decade of seasons that have started promisingly enough only to end in disappointment, it’s easy to get discouraged.
But even 15 games into Season One of the Anthony Noreen era, there are tons of tangible reasons to be optimistic for this program’s future.
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