The NCHC’s collective nonconference record so far this season has been nothing to sneeze at, winning at a .681 rate, second only to the Big Ten but having also played 15 more of those games.
Miami has held up its end of the bargain in that regard, sitting at 5-2-1 in those games ahead of the RedHawks’ last two this season, later this month at Niagara. Against NCHC opposition, though, Miami hasn’t been nearly as fortunate. An 0-6 mark in those games was reflected in a recent seven-game losing streak before the RedHawks won Saturday at Mercyhurst.
Graduate student Logan Neaton’s 20 saves in the Winnipeg Jets draft pick’s first collegiate shutout stopped the rot for Miami. That’s what results suggest, anyway, and RedHawks coach Chris Bergeron readily conceded that despite thinking his team had deserved better before then.
“You look at the analytics and the numbers that way, it says we played better hockey, but I look at the scoreboard at the end of each game, and I think our players do, as well, and that says negative results for seven games in a row,” Bergeron said.
The last of those defeats came Friday, a 4-3 overtime loss at home to Atlantic Hockey’s Lakers.
“The way we responded to get on the bus that Saturday and go to Erie and play what I think is a really good Mercyhurst team and play well, it’s a good thing, for sure,” said Bergeron. “I’m not downplaying that at all, and it was good for us to get that result. Would I like to have seen us score more 5-on-5? Yes, and 5-on-4. We had six power-play opportunities that I would’ve liked to see us score on, and we didn’t do that, but I think winning that game was something our guys deserved.
“I don’t want us to wait seven more games to get that type of result, but we talk around here about the process, and part of that is playing well. I thought we played better over the course of the last eight games, and to only get one result out of it is disappointing, but that’s something we take ownership of, and we have to do better.”
John Waldron and Matthew Barbolini both scored Saturday on a combined 11 shots. Last season’s top scorer for Miami, Barbolini leads the RedHawks again now with 18 points and is well on pace to surpass the 25 he had as a junior.
“He’s doing lots right,” Bergeron said of Barbolini. “He had a great summer physically and mentally, and he came into training camp ready to play like a senior, and that’s what he’s done. He’s been very consistent, and not just in games but also in practice.
“His aggressiveness with his play has led to points 5-on-5, and he’s been very consistent on the power play. Our power play has been inconsistent (15.1 percent, 47th-best in the country), but Matthew’s play has been consistent, and I don’t see that changing. His approach is a daily one, and I don’t see him not getting rewarded for that approach over the course of the season.”
And Bergeron hopes his team takes that same approach the rest of the season, starting with a home set this weekend against Minnesota Duluth.
“The way I want our guys to approach it is a daily approach, a small-picture approach, and we need to improve on a daily basis,” Bergeron said. “That’s not coach-speak; it’s something we need to do, and hopefully our boys are buying into that, and they’ll gain confidence and belief through that.
“Sometimes the results say there’s no confidence and it’s hard to believe when results are the way they are, but we need to find a way to be confident and believe, and I think the way to do that is just play well every day and make sure you’re focused, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. I think we’ve played some good hockey, but we need to be more consistent with that and play more good hockey more of the time.”
