Re: Brown Hockey 2012-2013:Climbing the ECAC Ladder
http://brownhockeyblog.blogspot.com/
Some sobering thoughts on a real stinker of a weekend.
Having been at both games, some thoughts, which I think will validate your conclusions based on the numbers:
The RPI game was not good. Borelli let in a soft one just 46 seconds in, and that caused the Bears some problems in terms of emotion right off the bat. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting much, what with coming off the Yale game just 3 days prior, and the fact that most of these teams would be seeing Anthony Borelli for the second time. Add to the fact that RPI is playing some great, team hockey - they don't have one guy who can beat you, but just play a terrific team brand - and was coming out flying at home, where Kasdorf has been great... well, the recipe for a bad loss was there. Brown didn't do the little things well, two of the RPI goals went off Brown sticks, and the Bears didn't connect on consecutive passes very frequently, save the Prescott goal, which was a nifty bit of work in transition by Drolet, Senecal and the aforementioned Prescott.
The PK was bad. The "two" successful kills were actually on the same 5x3 power play, and Brown essentially let the RPI forwards camp out around the crease. (Yes, I know Bailen is a d-man, but he had some much space on his goal, he could have had a coffee and still found time to put the puck in). Matt Wahl didn't have a particularly good weekend (his turnover against Union led to their only goal), and I didn't see Brown connect on many passes. Now, we factor in the fact that they got that power play goal late in the first, and instead of being in it at 1-0 after 1, the game was 2-0 and the wheels were effectively coming off.
There were a couple of penalties that were mysteries in that game, but certainly not the difference. The game was a stinker, plain and simple.
On to Union.
The biggest statistic for the Bears was actually the second period. No, not the shots, which I think were 18-6 or something like that, but the face-offs. After winning a good chunk of the draws against RPI, Mark Naclerio and Mark Hourihan couldn't buy a faceoff win. Part of it was that the linesmen kept kicking them out, so their timing was not crisp, but Union won something like 40 of the last 50 faceoffs in that game. I don't know if the Bears won an offensive zone face off that entire game, or at least that's how it seemed.
Borelli was outstanding. Not good, not great... outstanding. It put to rest any concern we may have had about teams gettnig to him the second time around, and he dealt well with the pressure around the goal, which Union attempted to apply with great regularity. He kept his sightlines open, controlled rebounds, and kept his composure.
Conversely, Grosenick was largely untested for the first 35 minutes of the game, and the best looks that Brown had in the first period and a half went wide. By the time he established a rhythm, the Bears were pressing, and he thus made the saves he had to. Truthfully, it looked like Union had shortened the bench to their top 4 D, if that at times, but the Brown d-men and forwards struggled against a very aggressive and quick Union forecheck. (Hence the Wahl turnover, which wasn't entirely on him, as Crowley or Deconcylis had skated away from him, and the forwards weren't giving him any support either).
Compounding the issue was that the Dutch did a terrific job of neutralizing Matt Lorito. Frequently, the line matchups, given that Union last change, worked in their favor, particularly in the first two periods, when Senecal, Juola, and Prescott found themselves against Union's top line, and then Union's "second" line was able to hold Lorito and company in check. Now, factor in the fact that Lamacchia and Harlow - two guys the Bears NEED to be visible - barely skated in the third, and someone like Hathaway, who is at his best when he is buzzing around the ice using his hits to bolster Brown's puck control, was rendered essentially invisible, well... you get the picture.
Bright spots:
1. Mark Senecal. Great to see him making the most of his opportunities.
2. Jake Goldberg. He continues to play consistently at defense. He wasn't great against RPI, but, then, nobody was.
3. Borelli vs. Union. If he has a rough game, that one is 5-0 and we're wondering who's getting the nod against Princeton.
KDiff: You are absolutely correct in your implication that special teams will be the Achilles heel for the Bears. The power play didn't get many chances this past weekend, but the ones they did were poor. The penalty kill was back in mid-November form - which is not a good thing. That said, the team needs to focus on each game, starting with a huge one at Princeton. Very hard to beat a team three times, and I think a shot at home ice is on the line on Friday, period. Beyond that, I'm not looking at Quinnipiac, the other games on the ECAC schedule, or the home series to conclude. The Bears need points on Friday.
Finally, a self-correction. I had written some time ago that RPI was not a good hockey team. They are very different today than they were when we left them in December, and that means they are solid. I stand corrected.
