Re: UNH Wildcats-The Back Nine and Beyond!
Just to elaborate a little further on last night's game (caught it on ESPN3 on my way back from vacation) ... it seemed UNH's offense was choppy and at times accidental. That can sometimes be classified as opportunistic, or arise from some tough checking that forces giveaways in key areas of the ice. Their two goals were very nice, but once you got past that ... really, not too much in the way of quality chances. Even the BvR breakaway (second period IIRC?) never looked like he had a chance. And of course the Woll save in the 3rd was a fluky break on a weird bounce coming out of the corner. Nazarian should have buried it, but it looked like he was almost too careful just to get it on net, and didn't think Woll would have a chance to get back in position. Oh well ... easy come, easy go, I suppose.
I guess for me, it always just felt like BC had more attacking flow more consistently. It's not like they were utterly dominant, but I think if you put both teams out there without their school colors, any neutral observer would say that the team that scored three goals had better chances all night long, were more organized in their 5-on-5 play, and won most of the puck battles too. I disagree with the poster who said that if the Nazarian shot went in, the game would have been a deserved tie. I absolutely positively think that even if UNH does score that goal, BC would have turned it up another notch, and I think they'd have won later in regulation or in OT. The way they killed off most of the last 2 minutes, once UNH came back to full strength, was textbook situational possession hockey. Disheartening as a UNH fan to see your team struggling to simply get the puck back when they needed it, and not being able to get Tirone out of the net sooner as a result.
One final thing I want to mention goes to our emerging All-HE talent Max Gildon back on the blueline. In most of the games to date, he's stood out apart from most of the rest of the players on either team. Last night, he was largely neutralized and fairly ineffective. Hey, you are a frosh, and you are going to have some of those nights, it's all part of the learning curve, I can understand that.
What I can't understand, and will not tolerate, is watching him give up the puck near the end of the final UNH power play (I think - it was latter half of the 3rd period IIRC?) at the opposing blue line, and then simply watching the BC kid coast in for a clean breakaway on Tirone for what would have been the game-clincher. Maybe he was gassed? I don't know, but it was a terrible look, and it's not the first time I've seen him putting forth a half-hearted defensive effort at a key point in a tight game. Maybe this was what Bucky saw? Probably harsh on Gildon, but if I'm his coach, and he's doing this at this early stage of his career, I'm getting in his grill and telling him this is unacceptable.
