Re: Northeastern Huskies 2011-2012 Season Thread: Year of the Mad Dog
Well that was dealt with.
Do not feel the score did NU justice tonight. The Huskies should have blown the game wide open in the first, but were to cocky with the puck, spent to much time trying to make pretty passes to guys who were covered, and blind passes to no one. Also passed up a bunch of shooting chances for backhanded passes that led to nothing.
Seemed like when they did shoot it was low, forcing Carr to leave some juicy rebounds that NU did not get to. Also seemed like they were trying for wrap-arounds, especially in the first. Have not seeing UML this year, perhaps the coaches saw something there, but Carr seemed to move post to post fine, and held the post too. He is a nice goalie. Makes the first save, but NU did not test him very much, and tonight was easily the worst I have seen NU on odd man rushes all year. They have been burying them, or at least making the right choices, pass vs. shoot, but tonight, I think they thought they were back in Notre Dame and outskilled themselves. Cody's breakaway that be blew is example number 1 on that.
Overall, never got the feeling NU was going to lose tonight, even when it was tied, and UML was gifted some power plays at the end. UML fans might be all over Bazin for pulling the goalie with so much time left, but I like the move there. You do not know if you are going to get another PP, or even another faceoff, or heck, another stoppage as at one point in the third we went like a good seven minutes in between whistles. Might as well take the chance there, you give one up, so be it, you lose by 2 instead of 1, big deal. Just so happens NU scores, and then NU takes the foot off the gas, another penalty, and one sneaks through Rawlings, so the move does not look good. I like the thinking by Bazin there in the end. Did not work out, but A+ for giving it a shot.
If Manno continues to play like he did tonight, physical, but in control, he is going to be a star the 2nd half of the season and should get top two line minutes.
Stone does more in the few minutes he is given then some guys do the entire night.
PK looked better then it has all season. Its getting there. Rotating more guys in during the game is helping keep guys fresh.
Not the best tonight for Karlsson, kinda of invisible. Same goes for Pimm. #9 continued his strong play, same with Cody. Might have been Saponari's quietest game of the year.
I really felt that either NU was a much stronger team then UML, or that the Lowell guys were tired, because NU was tossing them around pretty easily as the game went on. When Quailer starts tossing guys along the boards, that says something.
Nice win, nice to go into break at .500, nice to have some things to play for. At-large bid is being tossed around, and rightly so, but they need to stay above .500, and they are not there yet. They need to take care of Princeton, they can afford a loss to Minnesota. But they would need to beat a Comm Ave. team in the Beanpot and still play above .500 in Hockey East the rest of the way. Remember, UVM made it a few years back, and they finished 7th in Hockey East. Ways to go until then, but, its nice knowing that it is available now, when 6 weeks ago nobody would have even considered it.
