Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day
i thought this was the best game defensively of the season. The defense was clearing rebounds (not that there were many), they were standing players up at the blue line, poking the puck off a rushing Riverhawk stick through the neutral zone and at the blue line, breaking the puck out well. I'm not a fan of the "dump the puck always" strategy in the third, but when up 3-0 I can't blame them for playing conservative. We all want them to STEP ON THE THROAT but in reality there is no pressing need to.
Penalty kill was solid. Lowell has a good unit (20% going into today), so they will get their looks and chances. We stifled them when they got something going. From the setup to the execution, liked what I saw on the PK.
"Getting outplayed in the third" can really be attributed to score effects and desperation by Lowell to try and maintain offensive pressure. I don't think many teams would outplay Lowell in the third period when up 3-0. Most teams will likely play the way we did, I'd wager. When a team is losing they'll naturally be pressing and firing more on net in the later parts of the game. Just what to expect. NU dominated the neutral zone and offensive zone time for 2.5 periods. I really liked what I saw.
Cecere, Cockerill, Davies all had standout games on defense for me. Ruck was sound and solid. Gaudette, Sikura, Picking stood out among the forwards, succeeding in their respective roles. The Solow line was invisible to me offensively. Some guys just seemed timid to shoot the puck, not sure why or if I'm alone in that perception, but I want to see more from 21-28-17 tomorrow.
HUGE first win of the year. Sets a tone, sends a message. First time NU opens with a Hockey East win since 2012. Madigan gets to 100 career wins. Good stuff.