Game day: No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 4 North Dakota (Final Five third-place game)

Colorado College, which was held to a single goal in Friday’s overtime loss to Minnesota, has a lot riding on today’s game against North Dakota. CC is ranked fourth in the PairWise rankings, while the Fighting Sioux are ranked fifth. The winner of today’s game is projected to be the top seed in the NCAA West Regional at World Arena, while the other is expected to be the second seed.

Coach Scott Owens said after Friday’s game that he and his staff would have a lengthy discussion about whether to play starting goaltender Richard Bachman. It seems the CC coaches decided playing for that top seed was worth it because Bachman is listed as the starter.

As I mentioned above, CC was held to a single goal Friday–that’s the first time the Tigers haven’t scored at least two goals in a game. Owens made the first significant change to the top three lines since January, moving left wing Scott McCulloch to the fourth line and shifting Derek Patrosso, who typically plays right wing, to the second-line left wing spot. This is similar to the lineup CC went with in November’s split with North Dakota (here).

A few comments:
–Minnesota goaltender Alex Kangas was as good as advertised. The 20-year-old freshman (a couple months older than Richard Bachman) is on a hot streak. How will CC do against North Dakota’s Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who took his second loss in three games after leading the Sioux to an 18-game unbeaten streak? Should be another goaltending battle.
–Minnesota’s defense was much improved over October. The Gophers kept CC’s shots to the outside and did not allow the Tigers to get rebounds. To get prime scoring opportunities against North Dakota, CC has no choice but to be gritty.

Lines:
Colorado College
21 Bill Sweatt — 14 Chad Rau — 25 Mike Testwuide
16 Derek Patrosso — 19 Andreas Vlassopoulos — 23 Jimmy Kilpatrick
10 Scott Thauwald — 17 Tyler Johnson — 22 Eric Walsky
26 Scott McCulloch — 9 Brian McMilllin — 5 Addison DeBoer

8 Jack Hillen — 15 Nate Prosser
7 Kris Fredheim — 4 Jake Gannon
11 Brian Connelly –24 Ryan Lowery

30 Richard Bachman
31 Drew O’Connell
1 Tyler O’Brien

North Dakota
16 Ryan Duncan — 7 T.J. Oshie — 14 Brad Miller
20 Matt Watkins — 29 Chris VandeVelde — 17 Rylan Kaip
10 Andrew Kozek — 8 Ryan Martens — 22 Brad Malone
26 Kyle Radke — 11 Darcy Zajac — 21 Matt Frattin

4 Taylor Chorney — 28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley — 5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones — 25 Jake Marto

1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski

No. 5 CC 5, No. 7 Denver 2 (final) CC–2007-08 MacNaughton Cup Champions

Colorado College captured the MacNaughton Cup outright and the Gold Pan in one fell swoop Friday, winning 5-2 over rival Denver.

For those of you holding tickets to Saturday’s sold-out game at World Arena, fear not. The Tigers want to curb their Saturday-night losing streak.

“We’ve got to take care of business tomorrow,” captain Scott Thauwald said. “That game’s going to matter in the PairWise and we don’t want to have a let down after a big emotional win.”

Coach Scott Owens said after the game, however, that he is not sure if he will play or rest goaltender Richard Bachman.

“We’re going to talk about it,” Owens said. “In some ways (resting) is the prudent thing to do. In other ways, you’re playing Denver and you’re playing a sold-out building and you’re playing for the PairWise.”

If it’s left up to Bachman, he’ll play.

“I don’t want a break,” he said. “I want to play them again tomorrow night.”

Center Chad Rau hit the 100-point mark barrier with two goals in 12 seconds early in the third period. His 99th point came on a blazing shot from the left circle that didn’t even draw a flinch goaltender Peter Mannino.

“I thought that was an NHL shot,” Owens said.

Injury Update for CC-DU Series

For CC:
–Right wing Addison DeBoer returned to practice for the first time since he was injured Feb. 22 at Minnesota-Duluth. DeBoer had separated his left shoulder, but looked strong during a 45-minute skate involving a lot of shooting drills. DeBoer was wearing a noncontact jersey.
–Defenseman Kris Fredheim, who missed six games with a shoulder injury earlier this season, was back at practice Tuesday after missing the second half of Saturday’s game against Minnesota State-Mankato with what he termed an “upper-body injury.” Fredheim was also in a noncontact jersey.
–Goaltender Richard Bachman, defensemen Jack Hillen and Jake Gannon, and right wing Eric Walsky took Tuesday’s practice off. As the season winds down, coach Scott Owens will often designate off days for certain players to keep them healthy and fresh down the stretch.

I’m at Denver today working on material for this weekend’s series and I also attended the 2008 Frozen Four press conference (separate posting above), where I spoke to Denver coach George Gwozdecky.

Gwozdecky had this to say about sophomore Tyler Ruegsegger, who has been out for a month with a groin injury but returned to practice this week:
“He did not have a lot of negative effects from practice. Obviously, his conditioning and his timing are not there because he’s been off for a month. But the biggest issue with his injury was not as big of a problem as he thought it was going to be. So, he’s made some great progress. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to our medical staff and Tyler because they’ve worked tirelessly on his rehab. There is a good chance that he will be in the lineup Friday and, if not Friday, Saturday.”

Ruegsegger had 10 goals and 10 assists in 24 games before his injury, including a goal and an assist in Denver’s 3-2 win over CC at Magness Arena in November.

Mankato Eve

When Colorado College looks back on one weekend that made a difference in its quest for the MacNaughton Cup and a top seed in the NCAA West Regional, it may look no further than the St. Cloud State series.

The Tigers stretched their lead to 4-1 just 24 seconds into the second period in Friday’s game (Feb. 8) and went on to win 5-3 after the Huskies put the pressure on.

On Feb. 9, CC suffered its first — and so far, only — home loss of the season, falling behind 3-1 after a period and eventually losing 4-2.

That series was sandwiched between two dominating performances: the sweep of Clarkson and the road sweep of Minnesota-Duluth, in which the Tigers shut out Duluth both nights.

Coach Scott Owens hopes CC can become a model of consistency, starting with this weekend’s series against No. 10 Minnesota State-Mankato, a squad that has won seven of its past nine.

“As soon as you think it’s automatic, that’s when you get into trouble,” Owens said after the Tigers’ final skate before the series in which they could clinch the MacNaughton Cup. “We’re on a one-game losing streak at home. We can’t go on autopilot and expect to win.”

Coming off of the defensive corps’ strongest performance of the season last weekend at Duluth, defenseman Jack Hillen said his fellow defensemen have adapted a playoff mentality and hope to cut down on the amount of shots allowed this weekend.

“It was a good lesson after we lost to St. Cloud,” said Hillen, the top-scoring Western Collegiate Hockey Association defenseman with 28 points. “We didn’t play that well. Against Duluth, we got into a roll a little bit. … It was maybe a good reminder to play hard every night, that we’ve got to play well no matter what. But no one’s dwelling on the loss.”

Captain Scott Thauwald, who returns to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 9, said that if anything, CC’s focus and intensity has only increased this week with the knowledge that two wins gives the Tigers a share of the MacNaughton Cup. If North Dakota loses or ties a game at Duluth this weekend, CC will win the Cup outright with two victories over Mankato.

Again, Thauwald pointed to the loss to St. Cloud State as added inspiration in CC’s bid for its first regular-season title since it shared one with Denver in 2004-05.

“It wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world,” he said. “It was a good eye-opener. Guys are fired up because we lost the last time we played at home. We’re ready to start a new streak here.”

Because right wing Stephen Schultz (concussion) will not return to the lineup this season and left wing Addison DeBoer (separated shoulder) will be out this weekend, the Tigers will have just 12 forwards plus converted defenseman Brett Wysopal at their disposal.

Notes:
1,000 tickets remain for Friday’s game against Mankato…400 tickets remain for Saturday’s game…CC’s regular-season finale against Denver on March 8 is sold out.

Anticipated CC lines for Friday:
Bill Sweatt–Chad Rau–Mike Testwuide
Scott McCulloch–Andreas Vlassopoulos–Jimmy Kilpatrick
Scott Thauwald–Tyler Johnson–Eric Walsky
Brett Wysopal or Dan Quilico–Brian McMillin–Matt Overman

No. 3 CC 2, Michigan Tech 2 (OT, final)

Huskies’ captain Jimmy Kerr scored at 4:01 of the third period, but CC tied it up with less than eight minutes to go in regulation when right wing Mike Testwuide knocked in a pass from the right half-wall by Andreas Vlassopoulos.

Three thoughts:
1. CC showed great urgency to get back into the game, but once the Tigers tied the score, it was all Huskies. You can hear that sentiment in audio clips from CC’s Mike Testwuide and Michigan Tech’s Jimmy Kerr on Tiger Den Saturday.
2. Again, goaltender Richard Bachman showed remarkable poise in net for CC. The freshman, who is now 15-3-1 in 19 games played, has allowed two or fewer goals in 15 of those outings. That’s simply amazing. He said after the game that the second period, in which he had 16 saves, really helped him get in his rhythm. Coach Scott Owens said he thought he saw more and more confidence in Bachman as the game went on.
3. Right wing Stephen Schultz has scored in each of the past two games while CC’s top line has been held scoreless.

Stats breakdown:
Shots: CC 30, MTU 33
Shot leaders: CC Jimmy Kilpatrick, 6; MTU Jimmy Kerr, 7
Power plays: CC 1-4 (8 shots), MTU 0-3 (7)
Faceoffs won: CC 38, MTU 30
CC faceoffs: Chad Rau 12/21; Andreas Vlassopoulos 8/16; Eric Walsky 5/8; Bill Sweatt 2/3; Brian McMillin 1/4; Scott Thauwald 0/1; Tyler Johnson 0/5
MTU faceoffs: Ryan Angelow13/24; Peter Rouleau 9/19; Alex Gagne 4/9; Bennett Royer 3/5; Jimmy Kerr 1/1.

Game day: No. 4 CC vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Pregame notes:
1. Junior Eric Walsky will play tonight, despite injuring his right wrist Wednesday. Walsky skated briefly in a noncontact jersey toward the end of Thursday’s practice with heavy tape on his wrist. Walsky will center the fourth line, so he’ll only play about 12 minutes at most. But Walsky’s presence means the Tigers will have a full lineup. I would have to guess that with center Chad Rau available Sunday against either UMass or No. 6 Notre Dame – UMass knocked off the Fighting Irish 4-3 in the first game – coach Scott Owens will give Walsky a rest.

2. Who is going to replace Cody Lampl? Owens liked to say that Lampl never had to score a point or dish an assist to make a contribution to the Tigers. Lampl’s high-energy, big-hitting style of play reminded his teammates to finish their checks. But with Lampl suspended until January 2009 unless his appeal is successful, CC will have to find another way (or ways) to generate that same spark. Most are looking to left wing Scott McCulloch, but right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick said Thursday that it will have to be a collective effort.

3. Goalies tend to be a superstitious bunch, but goaltender Richard Bachman is excited to debut a new set of pads tonight. Instead of a metallic gold, these leg pads have a yellow gold that matches more closely that of the Tigers’ uniform. Bachman said the equipment company rep delivered his pads to his house in Highlands Ranch just before Christmas and he started breaking them in during his week off. He prefers stiffer pads, so he said he’s happy to have a new set midseason. As for the glove, Bachman has been working extra hard to break that in. “It’s still a little stiff,” he said.

4. CC practiced this morning at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon, Fla., about 15 minutes from the team hotel.

Lines:
Colorado College
10 Thauwald–17 Johnson–23 Kilpatrick
26 McCulloch–19 Vlassopoulos–5 DeBoer
28 Schultz–9 McMillin–25 Testwuide
12 Quilico–22 Walsky–18 Overman

8 Hillen–15 Prosser
27 Wysopal–4 Gannon
11 Connelly–24 Lowery

30 Bachman
31 O’Connell
1 O’Brien

RPI
23 Colling–17 Lord–16 Klerer
15 Helfrich–8 Morissette–26 Contini
27 Uryadov–11 Kerins–21 Polacek
9 Ornelas–22 Angers-Goulet–10 Halpern

6 Merth–7 Foss
4 Brutlag–3 Jensen
12 Vassel–2 Burgdoerfer

31 Lange
1 Alford
25 Neubert

Gameday: No. 3 CC 3, St. Cloud State 1 (final)

Final thoughts:

1. If you didn’t catch Friday’s article on CC’s penalty kill, it might be worth a read (“Treads realign CC’s play”). The Tigers’ penalty kill was phenomenal tonight, holding St. Cloud State to just one goal on 10 shots in eight power plays. The Huskies entered the game clicking at 22.8 percent (21 of 92), but that dropped to 22 percent (22 of 100) after Friday.Of course, goaltender Richard Bachman deserves a lot of credit, but the forwards — especially Scott Thauwald, Chad Rau and Scott McCulloch — did a stand-out job possessing the puck when they took it away from the Huskies’ power play. All of the defensemen kept St. Cloud State off of Bachman’s pads and combined for several takeaways in the slot. Impressive.

2. Speaking of McCulloch, it was good to see him score for the first time since Nov. 3 against North Dakota. The senior left wing and alternate captain has been doing so many positive things while playing on the third line, but scoring hasn’t been one of them. Coach Scott Owens has repeatedly praised McCulloch’s defensive efforts and leadership this season. In three of the Tigers’ four losses — all of which came on the road — that third goal proved elusive. It was a big goal.

“I’ve been focusing on getting chances,” McCulloch said. “When the chances stop coming, that’s when you have to start worrying. I think just focusing on that and helping the team win in other ways is what has kept me going and just kept me in a positive mind-frame. I don’t think being negative around the guys would help me any or help us win.”

3. As I said below after the first period, the defensemen really established themselves early. St. Cloud State only scored once and did not score on even strength for a reason.

“They have a few high-end skill guys that we had in mind,” defenseman Ryan Lowery said. “Our goal was to knock them around and knock them in. Collectively, as a D-corps, I think we did that pretty well. I would say it was a goal coming into the weekend.”

When asked if the defensemen contributing two of the Tigers’ three goals was a result of aggression or luck, Lowery grinned as he threw out some fighting words: “Actually, this week in practice, the D-corps was winning all of the small games, so it carried over into tonight.”

Lowery is referring to competitions throughout practice that pit the defensemen against the forwards. And, yes, the defensemen were cleaning up this week.

After a period:
1. Defensemen making the difference. Nate Prosser and Ryan Lowery each had first-period goals. In their defensive zone, the Tigers are forcing St. Cloud State to take outside shots and the defensemen established a physical presence early.
2. So much for least penalized team. St. Cloud State took three first-period penalties. Perhaps coach Bob Motzko thought the Huskies weren’t playing aggressive enough during their five-game losing streak.
3. Strong start. Any worries of rust after the bye week looked misplaced during the first-period effort from CC. The Tigers outshot St. Cloud State 13-6, converted on one of their three power plays and generated plenty of short-handed offense out of their penalty kill.

Three thoughts:
1. Crash the net. Last season, the Huskies had proven goaltender Bobby Goepfert in net. Tonight, St. Cloud State has freshman B.J. O’Brien, who has played in just one game this season. Because St. Cloud State is the least penalized team in the nation, averaging just 9.4 penalty minutes per game, the Tigers can’t expect to get many power-play opportunities and will need to do their damage in even-strength situations.
2. Stop the Viennese twins. One is from Vienna, Austria, the other is from Vienna, Va., but sophomore Andreas Nodl and freshman Garrett Roe both have the offensive skill to change a game. Look for the Vlassopoulos line to be given the task of neutralizing Roe’s line.
3. Rusty? CC players and coaches alike felt good about their preparation for tonight’s game during the past two weeks. Will the Tigers pick up where they left off after Alaska-Anchorage? Or will they take a period or more to get back into the rhythm of WCHA play?

Ice chips:
**CC alum and former radio color commentator Jim Paradise will be joining Ken Landau on the call tonight on 103.9 FM.
**Scouts from Calgary Flames, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils are in attendance.

Lines:
Colorado College
10 Thauwald–14 Rau–23 Kilpatrick
21 Sweatt–19 Vlassopoulos–5 DeBoer
26 McCulloch–22 Walsky–25 Testwuide
2 Lampl–17 Johnson–28 Schultz

8 Hillen–15 Prosser
7 Fredheim–4 Gannon
11 Connelly–24 Lowery

30 Bachman
31 O’Connell

Healthy scratches: Brett Wysopal and Brian McMillin
Did not travel: Derek Patrosso (ankle), Dan Quilico, Matt Overman, Tyler O’Brien

St. Cloud State
27 Mosey–13 Dey–19 Lasch
12 Nodl–9 Roe–10 Hartman
21 Brocklehurst–17 Marvin–18 Volpei
22 Borgen–8 Olson–15 Oslund

26 Swanson–24 Stephenson
28 Carlisle–7 Raboin
6 Barta–2 Ammerman

30 O’Brien
33 Weslosky
41 Dunn

Referees: Derek Shepherd and Marco Hunt
Linesmen: Jonathon Morrison, Tony Czech

Game day: No. 4 CC 4, Alaska-Anchorage 1 (final)

Three thoughts:
1. The Tigers must be more determined about getting shots on net. Last night’s total of 16 simply isn’t enough. CC was outshot 46-36 overall with the breakdown like this:
–Shots blocked by defense: CC 10, UAA 12
–Shots off target: CC 9, UAA 6
–Pipes: CC 1, UAA 0
–Shots on target: CC 16, UAA 28
How CC fared Saturday: The Tigers were outshot 25-23. Early in the game, Anchorage was doing a great job of blocking shots, especially from CC’s defensemen. But the game opened up once the Seawolves scored and the defensemen started to change the shooting angle. CC ended up taking 52 shots total to Anchorage’s 42.
The breakdown:
–Shots blocked by defense: CC 17, UAA 10
–Shots off target: CC 10, UAA, 7
–Pipes: CC 2, UAA 0
–Shots on target: CC 23, UAA 25

2. Anchorage came off of a bye week. CC is heading into one. Who wants it more?
How CC fared: The Tigers got great goaltending from Drew O’Connell Friday and Richard Bachman Saturday. The pair combined to hold Anchorage by saving 52 of 53 shots. CC allowed its first power-play goal since Nov. 2, but has killed 34 of the last 35 penalties. The power play, thanks to opportunistic play from the Kilpatrick-Rau-McCulloch-Connelly-Lampl group, regained its somewhat shaky footing with two goals Saturday. All in all, CC gained some confidence heading into its next road series at St. Cloud State, but could stand to up the ante on offense after scoring just four power-play goals in the last three games.

3. Can the Tigers earn a road sweep? North Dakota beat Denver 3-1, meaning CC could pull six points ahead of the Pioneers, who have two games in hand, in Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
How CC fared: The Tigers proved they could get gritty on the road and rose to the occasion over the last 30 minutes of Saturday’s game. With Denver’s loss, the two points proved to be quite important. As right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick pointed out after the game, Anchorage hadn’t been swept by any team home or away this season. Even though the Seawolves are in last place in the WCHA, they are much more disciplined than in years past and if they can get a few more goals, could be a dangerous team. Could be interesting in mid-January when the teams meet again.

Briefly:
–There was a brief moment with two minutes left — after left wing Cody Lampl was checked from behind by Anchorage’s Chris Tarkir and defenseman Kris Fredheim went for retaliation — where it looked as if the series might end with a brawl as it did last December at World Arena.
“I must say I had a little flashback,” coach Scott Owens said. “But (coach) Dave (Shyiak) did a good job of getting everyone settled down.”

–Best fashion statement: Defenseman Ryan Lowery, inspired by classmate Brett Wysopal, was sporting some moccasins he bought Saturday in Anchorage with his CC windsuit.

Colorado College
10 Thauwald–14 Rau–23 Kilpatrick
21 Sweatt–19 Vlassopoulos–25 Testwuide
26 McCulloch–17 Johnson–22 Walsky
2 Lampl–9 McMillin-18 Overman

8 Hillen–15 Prosser
7 Fredheim–4 Gannon
11 Connelly–27 Wysopal

30 Bachman
31 O’Connell

Alaska-Anchorage
21 Lunden–20 Crowder–9 Clark
24 Tassone–37 Cartwright–18 Tarkir
8 Selby–17 Parkinson–7 DayChief
28 Haddad–34 McCabe–16 Grant

4 LaFranchise–33 Robinson
13 Backstrom–23 Vidmar
10 Lovdahl–22 Tuton

30 Olthuis
39 Gordon
21 Mayo

Scouting No. 3 North Dakota

I’m sure I’m not the only one who balked last Friday when Michigan Tech downed North Dakota 3-1. I remember thinking, “How did they do that?”

Well, besides the intangibles the Huskies brought to the table (read Jess Myers’ story about Michigan Tech coach Jamie Russell’s hellish week) Michigan Tech got great goaltending from Michael-Lee Teslak, stayed out of the penalty box and was opportunistic.

When I asked coach Scott Owens what the Tigers can take from the Huskies’ triumph, the first words out of his mouth were, “We need to get good goaltending.” No decisions had been made by the close of Wednesday’s practice, but I would imagine Richard Bachman will get a chance to battle Jean-Philippe Lamoureux. Bachman is ranked 14th in goals against average and 10th in save percentage, making him the top freshman goaltender in the country.

Now for my three things to keep in mind:

1. Speaking of Lamoureux… Lambasted last season for being a slow-starting goalie, Lamoureux has silenced his critics with four shutouts in five games and only two goals allowed in the loss to Michigan Tech. That gives the junior, who made headlines for reclaiming his hyphenated first name at the beginning of the season, an impressive .983 save percentage and 0.43 goals against average.

2. D-corps exam So far, I’d give the Tigers’ defensemen an A-/B+ (A for Minnesota, B for New Hampshire). For the most part, CC’s defensemen did an admirable job keeping Minnesota and New Hampshire’s top threats off the board — although they could have done a better job with the Wildcats’ second line. How will they handle this week’s offensive threats? Scan these names: T. J. Oshie, Ryan Duncan, Taylor Chorney. Most likely, these three juniors will be challenging for NHL roster spots 11 months from now. The Sioux’s depth should give CC a nice defensive gut-check heading into five home games.

3. Where’s that veteran offense? As you can read tomorrow on Tiger Den, the Tigers need to take the puck to the paint (to borrow a term from basketball) in order to generate some legitimate five-on-five scoring chances, as they struggled to do last weekend at New Hampshire.

Game day: New Hampshire 4, CC 2 (final)

Third-period goals:
Colorado College 1, New Hampshire 2: Brad Flaishans (Craig Switzer, Matt Fornataro), 4:33, pp.
Just 35 seconds into a 101-second five-on-three scenario, Switzer’s pass from the point was one-timed by Flaishans from the top of the left circle. The slap shot beat Bachman inside the left post.
“There was a power-play blast and there was a lot of traffic,” coach Scott Owens said of the goal.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 2: Scott McCulloch (Jack Hillen, Andreas Vlassopoulos), 9:52, pp.
Hillen ripped a shot from the point and McCulloch and Bill Sweatt crashed the net, punching the rebound past goaltender Brian Foster.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 3: Paul Thompson (Danny Dries, Joe Charlebois), 10:08.
Sixteen seconds after CC’s game-tying score, Charlebois’ slap shot from the outside edge of the right circle was tipped by Dries on the near post and batted in by Thompson backdoor.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 4: Peter LeBlanc (Jerry Pollastrone), 19:53, en.
After a neutral zone turnover created a 2-on-1 rush, defenseman Brian Connelly overcommitted to LeBlanc, who drove past him and finished in the empty net.

Post-game quotes:
Coach Scott Owens
–On the two-referee, two-linesman system
“The two-man system is something that’s being experimented with this year, I thought it went reasonably well. I would give it a thumbs-up based on this weekend.”
–On goaltender Richard Bachman
“You know what? Three goals against in a road game, his first road game, five goals in three games against teams rated top-six in the country, you know, that’s a good start for the young man.”
–Concerned about CC’s penalty kill, which gave up three goals on 10 power plays?
“I’m not concerned. I just hate putting so much pressure on our special teams by not generating a goal or a goal and a half a game on five-on-five and that’s an area we’ve really got to get better at here.”

Defenseman Jack Hillen
–On what the Tigers learned this weekend
“What it takes to win on the road. Obviously we’re not good enough right now. You can’t just come into a barn, especially a team that’s as good as UNH, and not put a full road game together. We made too many mistakes. We did a lot of good things right, you can certainly take those away. But as a senior and a veteran on this team, I’m looking at goals after we just get one. …It’s a whole different atmosphere coming into a place like this than playing at home and w e’ve got to learn and we’ve got to learn pretty quick or it’s going to get away.”
–On playing from behind on the road
“It’s hard. It’s harder to come back on the road because you don’t get that momentum from the crowd. You feel like you’re on your own and you don’t get the breaks from the refs. I’m not saying that’s what caused the game, I’m just saying you’re not going to get anything going your way, you’ve got to make your own momentum and it’s that much harder on the road. If you’re playing catch up, it’s not a good recipe for road wins.”

Left wing Scott McCulloch
–On what CC’s 5-on-5 offense needs
“I think that’s just not playing in the tough areas. We’ve got a lot of skilled forwards but it’s getting the puck to the paint and being there and getting traffic in front of the goalie. I think that’s an area we need to improve on, especially being an older team, it’s something that we should already be doing. I think we need to improve big-time on that. Usually we do a good job down low, but it’s taking the puck to the net with authority and having bodies there and that’s where it’s tough to play, it’s in front of the net. That triangle in front, that’s where the goals are scored and I think we need to do a better job of getting there.”
–On why the Tigers’ forecheck struggled to contain New Hampshire
I think we had a few turnovers, just not taking care of the puck and maybe missing a few lanes. But they’re a great team, they move the puck really well through the neutral zone, that’s their strength. You’re not always going to be able to stop that team, but I think in all areas, bearing down would help out.

Inside the stats:
–New Hampshire had the faceoff edge, 39-32. For CC, Chad Rau won 12/20 faceoffs and Vlassopoulos earned 11/22 wins.
–CC scored on two of seven power plays, as did the Wildcats, but had 16 shots to New Hampshire’s seven on the man-advantage.
–In the first and second period, Bachman faced just seven shots from the slot. By contrast, in the third period, eight of UNH’s 12 shots came from the slot.

***
Tiger Tracks:
Tonight’s American Hockey League showdown between the Lake Erie Monsters and the Iowa Stars was a CC-studded affair. Defenseman Brandon Straub helped the Monsters to a 3-2 win, in which Stars captain Toby Petersen had a goal and Stars alternate captain Marty Sertich was held to a single shot.