In the past two seasons, one of the few knocks on St. Lawrence was the lack of production from the power play, and through two games at Penn State, the Saints, with a new coach and a new system, had come up empty on their first six man-advantage attempts. The Saints ended that streak in Saints coach Mark Morris’ return to Appleton Arena with a pair of power-play goals en route to downing New Hampshire, 6-2, in their home opener.
With the NCAA cracking down on minor infractions this season, more penalties should be expected in the early going, but the Saints and Wildcats racked up 19 penalties between the two of them, and each team was able to capitalize twice with the extra skater. Morris is aware of the heightened level of responsibility for the power play with these changes.
“It was hard to watch from the penalty standpoint, and I hope we can come to a consensus soon so that we can get back to hockey,” said Morris with a wry smile, before emphasizing the power play as not just an opportunity to score, but to change momentum.
“It’s huge; if a group of guys come back to the bench dragging their lips or frustrated with one another, the things that aren’t going for you creep into your mindset it can work the opposite way and you can watch a game slip away from you and it can affect you,” Morris continued. “Having some early success and generating some momentum has been a main focal point for us, to realize that if you score on three out of every 10 power plays you have, that’s 30 percent. That’s pretty darn good.”
Gavin Bayreuther, who recorded the Saints second power-play goal of the night at the 14:37 mark of the second period, echoed Morris’ sentiment about the importance of power plays to the Saints as they look to advance beyond the ECAC semifinals after losing in overtime the previous two years.
“We look at power plays as momentum changing; whether you score or not, you want to create momentum for your team,” said Bayreuther after the win, where he had an assist to go along with his goal. “Last year we struggled heavily and it’s been one of the focuses to improve special teams. You can always get better, and we started the year off right.”
Starting the year off right almost ended bitterly, as a hand injury sidelined Eric Sweetman, who quarterbacks the second power-play unit. However, with the scoreline lopsided, Morris was able to experiment with different combinations without feeling the loss.
Even the Wildcats got a boost from their power play, recording both their goals on five-on-three power plays.
“You better be ready for your specialty teams, “said UNH coach Dick Umile after the game. “But that’s what we had to do to get a goal.”
The same three players, Tyler Kelleher, Ara Nazarian, and Patrick Grasso, combined on both UNH goals, while seven different players had two-point nights for the Saints.
St. Lawrence hosts Merrimack College tomorrow while UNH makes the trek down Route 11 to square off with the Clarkson Golden Knights.
ECAC results
Clarkson 4, Merrimack 0
Rookie netminder Jake Kielly registered his first career shutout with 23 saves in the Golden Knights’ 4-0 win over the Warriors. Devin Brosseau and Greg Moro had two-point outings for Clarkson.
Colgate 4, Connecticut 4
Evan Peterson recorded two goals, including an unassisted short-handed goal, to help Colgate earn a tie with Connecticut. Derek Freeman scored the tying goal for the Raiders at the 10:55 mark of the third period. Colgate’s penalty kill was a sparkling 8-for-8, keeping the Raiders in the game.
Union 5, at American International 4
Nick DeSimone scored the game-winner for Union with under five minutes left after AIC had rallied from two down in the third period to tie the game. Alex Sakellaropoulos made 22 saves in the win.
No. 3 Quinnipiac 3, at Maine 4
Maine rallied from two goals down twice in the third period, tying the game at 15:07 on a goal by Patrick Shea. Mitchell Fossier scored the game-winner for the Black Bears in OT on a power play. Chris Truehl made 26 saves for Quinnipiac.
