Game 8: Denver 5, UMD 1
UMD goal
Michael Gergen 1 (Cody Danberg, Chad Huttel), 7:29 2nd period. Gergen flew through the neutral zone after getting a feed from Danberg, and his wrist shot trickled past Denver goalie Marc Cheverie.
Thoughts
Just not UMD's day. Hopefully, Saturday goes a bit better for the guys.
When the Bulldogs were playing well, they had trouble finishing in front of the Denver net. Cheverie was sharp, but he got help from UMD players missing their spots and overskating loose pucks.
Then things started going badly. Alex Stalock wasn't able to cover a loose puck in the crease that appeared to hit a teammate as he dove towards it, allowing Luke Salazar to get an easy goal. That came after Salazar put a rebound in an open net when Stalock made a save and Huttel lost a battle in front of the net.
Goals by Rhett Rakhshani and Tyler Bozak on the power play were too easy, as both players were open for backdoor goals while Stalock was on the other side of the net.
Brady Hjelle made his UMD debut in the third period, stopping all nine shots he faced. We'll see tonight if Stalock benefits from watching the third period from the bench.
Then again, none of the goals were really his fault. It's not like he has to play better. Instead, the guys in front of him do. They took pretty good care of Hjelle. If they can do the same tonight for Stalock, you can expect a different result.
Why not give Stalock a day off tonight and see if someone who stays in the net could win the game for the Bulldogs.
ReplyDeleteDenver is the better team and they are at home, but giving up easy goals is never going to make it easy on the road.
Brady likes to play the puck, too.
ReplyDeletePlus not all goals were Stalocks fault, the team as a whole played bad Stalock cant stop what he cant see, thats about the only thing he cant do.
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