A goal and an assist for Clark made it a little difficult for his teammates.
Lot of little (and not so little) mistakes to clean up, including Cleland's missed poke check that led to the game winner. Seemed like there were a lot of Spartans running free down the middle as well. And it would be nice if the forwards could lift the puck occasionally. Goalie lying on the ice and they shoot the puck into him?
They're interesting to watch. Hopefully they'll start figuring out some of this stuff.
Agreed; real tough night for Clark. But, he was not getting much help from his teammates, either. Worst passing that I have seen by any UNH team in over two decades, which I attribute to their inexperience. And, some folks here on the off-season thread thought Camper might see a lot of healthy scratches, whereas others thought his being a senior would be awarded by Umile; but, first line assignment really surprised me.
However, I did not think that the Spartans were much better. Overall, reminded me of a typical AHA game in sloppiness. If the Cats can do a better job of breaking the puck out of their own zone, I think that they will have a chance to even up things on Saturday night.
The final few minutes after Michigan scored its fourth goal (the only goal that I thought was not a total giveaway by UNH) was exciting, as the Cats finally began connecting on some passes, with several great scoring chances and a goal to get them within one again.
Face off in the offensive zone on Michigan icing with about 70 seconds remaining allowed Umile to pull Clark for the extra attacker, so there was hope right up to the bitter end. Glad that I did not leave early to beat the traffic, as some fans did. Speaking of which, a lot of empty seats tonight.
No smiley faces in this post.
