Notre Dame came to Duluth sporting the #2 ranking and played well. UMD matched their play for most of the weekend and outplayed the Irish for much of Saturday night en route to a series split.
The Bulldogs are moving in the right directions getting wins
on the road and against the top ranked teams in the last two series. Next on the list is to move away from the
splits in favor of sweeps.
Our thoughts for where the Bulldogs are: Up, Down, and
Neutral:
- Penalty kill is proving to be a real bright spot for the Bulldogs. Sporting a 91.7% kill rate, they rank sixth in the nation.
- Balanced scoring is a key to a successful college hockey team and UMD has it. Which line is the #1? We don’t know from scoring as scoring is coming from all lines.
- Power play has always been a strong suit for UMD. This version of Bulldogs is different in that respect going 3 for 33. The 9.1% is not last in the NCHC, but is 53rd of 59 teams nationally.
- The number of major penalties that UMD players have taken this year is not acceptable. Penalties happen, but majors is another story. The consequence is too big to take any chances. Bulldogs have taken three in the last five games and one in each of the last two.
- Austin Farley and Tony Cameranesi are trying to side step the sophomore slump. They have been playing on the same line and both have one goal and two assists. Both need to be productive to see sweeps instead of splits.
- Who is the #1 goalie? Who cares right now as long as Crandall or McNeely is playing well. Go Crandall, go…until UMD needs to look to McNeely.
Looking ahead. The
Bulldogs will travel to Ohio State, the first Bi6 Ten foe UMD faces. The Buckeyes are currently 2-3-0.
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