@ St. Thomas (1/7-1/8)

[mbenecke]

Our Falcons (9-8-1) now head to St. Thomas (1-19) to begin the 2nd half of the year with a CCHA series in a building we’ve never played in before.

I respect what St. Thomas is trying to build, but this absolutely must be 2 wins if we’re going to keep fighting for home ice this season. This is a clear mismatch, and we need to take advantage of it.

Go Falcons!

[mbenecke]

GOAL! Nathan Burke slams home a rebound and BG leads 1-0 with 12:30 to play in the first period.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Three (3) of our guys wave at the puck carrier with their sticks instead of being on the man. Terrible. 1-1.

[mbenecke]

GOAL! Ryan O’Hara worked harder than the St. Thomas guy to get the loose puck on the forecheck, and he’s rewarded with his first career goal on a Spencer Schneider assist.

Falcons lead 2-1 with 1:30 to play in the first period.

High effort - love to see it.

[mbenecke]

End of One: Bowling Green 2, St. Thomas 1

BG leads shots 9-5.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Felt like we outplayed them more than 2-1 score and 9-5 SOGs. Keeping multiple guys on the forecheck daring them to make a zone exit. Aside from the brain cramp, a pretty good period.

[pdt1081]

Felt like we outplayed them more than 2-1 score and 9-5 SOGs. Keeping multiple guys on the forecheck daring them to make a zone exit. Aside from the brain cramp, a pretty good period.

Sadly, that wasn't a brain cramp. BG is coached to play the puck instead of risking a penalty. It's frustrating to watch because you know a penalty will not be called the other way. You can get a sense of Eigner's frustration with that aspect during his presser right before Christmas.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Felt like we outplayed them more than 2-1 score and 9-5 SOGs. Keeping multiple guys on the forecheck daring them to make a zone exit. Aside from the brain cramp, a pretty good period.

Sadly, that wasn't a brain cramp. BG is coached to play the puck instead of risking a penalty. It's frustrating to watch because you know a penalty will not be called the other way. You can get a sense of Eigner's frustration with that aspect during his presser right before Christmas.

I get that and I agree, but we were little more than pylons out there on that goal. Out of position and/or standing around.

[mbenecke]

BG kills a penalty and an unlucky/weird bounce leads to a St. Thomas goal.

2-2. 10:30 to go in the middle frame.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Looked like our defense (Coyle?) overcommitted and left a guy alone in front.

[mbenecke]

End of Two: It’s tied at 2.

BG leads SOG, 20-14.

Not much else to say. We appear to be the better team (not saying much, with them being literally 1-19), but one little mistake lets them hang around.

Have to finish here. Have to.

[mbenecke]

Couple of things when you look at the stats:

#1 - They are killing us in the face-off circle.

#2 - We’re now 0/2 on the PP. That’s after entering the game 1 for our last 9, meaning 1 for our last 11 or 9%. That’s not good enough to win games. I know we don’t have the skill to be hitting at a 25% clip like the best teams in the country, but this doesn’t cut it.

[pdt1081]

I get that and I agree, but we were little more than pylons out there on that goal. Out of position and/or standing around.

I'm not saying it's the right way to play, but reference Barber, and then Lloyd's penalty, and it's very easy to understand the WHY part.

[mbenecke]

GOAL! Taylor Schneider adds a power play goal. Finally. The PP unit kept the puck in the zone for like 90 seconds before finding the back of the net.

BG now leads 3-2 with 12:30 to play in the third period.

[mbenecke]

A wildly physical stretch that could’ve easily seen 3 or 4 penalties called ends up with BG in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Of course it ends up with us in the box. Of course.