tnt

Could be, because the only time I heard the fans was Pyke’s goal where they basically missed the goal. The reason I thought we might have scored was because of the fan noise, and knowing we had the faceoff in their end of the ice.

This is probably the case, as we seem to have more of a 9/3 lineup now as far as offensive lines and defensive lines, so it is hard to not have a few guys that seem like they should be up higher in the lineup. A lot of us, including me were thinking that depending on game situation, the Blake line should see less playing time. To me, our lineup issues seems more of a good problem, rather than bad. There is always going to be someone that either should be in the lineup, or on a different line.

Actually, I thought the last 3 times we played them we outplayed them, and the one game in Grand Forks, we outplayed them badly.

Need to start getting something more out of Perron. St. Cloud is going to come out tough tomorrow, so could use Perron getting his snipe back on!

Nevermind!

Makes me nervous.

That’s a call. Speak it to fruition.

That was another example of situational awareness, and Johannes turns it over just inside the blue line this time leading to a rush the other way. Last 30 seconds of a period with a two goal lead, get it deep.

Michael Emerson already on the scoresheet with the Steel again. Playing up a level must make it seem a lot easier going back down a level.

That is the perfect place to dangle, when all three defenders are below the faceoff circle.

What does anyone know about Zac Zimmerman from Moorhead? Averaging over a point per game as a freshman with a traditionally strong program is pretty impressive. Even better numbers than Mason Kraft who is committed to Minnesota State.

I think the key truly is situational awareness, and frankly I think that changes from the regular season into the playoffs. In tight tournament contests, sometimes that first goal is super critical especially when teams tend to play more of a lockdown game, so I would say you need to be dialed into situational awareness from the start there. If you're playing a team that has nothing to lose, giving them that first goal can really give them the confidence to think "we really could win this game". I think St. Cloud has experienced that a few times.

Nobody is saying Blake isn't a net positive, but that doesn't mean he can ignore the fundamentals of smart team hockey and the thing that the coaches always preach, "live to fight another day". In other words, you will get your chances regardless, so don't press and take unnecessary chances. After the defensive problems last year we had a reset, and we are starting to fall into some old habits of going all out for offense. He can do all the dangling he wants down low in the offensive zone, just don't take the chances when you are the last man back or will give up odd man rushes.

Blais sat his dad for a game because he wasn't playing the right way. Sometimes it takes a slap in the face to wake you up that defensive responsibility is required of everyone, not just the offensive stars. Wasn't it just a year ago the argument was being made that Brent Johnson wasn't doing the right things defensively? I sometimes think that there are some guys that have a different standard for getting to see the bench. It took forever of Rhett Gardner taking bad penalties, and a lot of fan dissatisfaction before he finally was made to sit. If there was some effort to do the right things, I would agree with you, but it is the same blind passes to dangerous areas and one last move just inside the blue lines that happen repeatedly. Even moreso, after the turnovers are made, the hustle to get back is lacking, and if it was an odd man rush the other way, there seems to be more hustle. When you are talking culture, those are some big issues, as the expectation should be the same of everyone.

Especially on that big ice surface. Our young defense might have some gap problems. Hopefully James and McLaughlin can use their speed to cause problems for St. Cloud.

Yes, gotta love those grinders, could definitely use more guys that are willing to get dirty and play both ways. It seems like we could use more skill guys that are hard to play against like Pinto.

I see Barzal was the Islanders all star selection. Nelson, definitely should have been another candidate to be a Brockstar at the All Star game, and defend his shooting accuracy title. Of course Boeser will probably be in that competition as well.

Although St. Cloud did get a 5-3 that last 3 minutes of the game. Maybe Heather Weems has more pull with Mike Schmidt than with Don Adams for her former school.

Yes, I can imagine our season ending on an ill-advised dangle where the situation requires getting the puck deep.

They took Perron off his line down the stretch for more defensive play, so why play Blake all the time in a lockdown situation? If the same mistakes of not getting it low weren’t happening, I can see rolling the lines, but the same errors happen over and over, almost like he has no intention of learning puck management. To that end, we should be finding a way to get Albrecht and Ness in more in those situations. Happy for the win, but with 3 minutes left or so we should have our responsible guys out there. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but you shouldn’t have as many odd man rushes from turnovers just inside the blue lines.

So we haven’t lost a game in regulation in two months and have only lost in a format that everyone agrees is a gimmick, and the sky is falling? Oh, and if all the players we were told shouldn’t see the ice in overtime didn’t play, we would have nobody left except Komzak or Benoit and Schmaltz and Albrecht.

Obviously since people are down on Persson, he didn’t have many tough saves. Opportunistic isn’t a term I would use for a team who totally outworked the other.

Denver, must be a horrible team, losing to Omaha in regulation at home, as well as us, then needing o.t. to beat us.

So shouldn’t the shots have been reversed if they outworked us so much? 39-24 hardly proves your eyes right.

But those people are told that the standard is .900, so it shouldn’t matter if some of those are impossible to save. UND was winning consistently when denying the cross ice pass and at least giving Persson a chance to save it.