Closing Out the First Half Against Michigan Tech
I am going to preface this by mentioning some of the issues I have been having with InStat, the service that I am using to get the majority of the advanced analytics I share with everyone in my recaps/player cards. They are still missing, or not finished processing, 3 games that Bemidji State has played in so far. These include the 3-0 victory over Ferris State and both games from last weekend against Lake Superior State. What this means is that the advanced data I have below (xG, Corsi, hits, Game Score, Time on Ice, etc.) are all excluding these games and that is why I am basing everything on a per game basis rather than an overall. Hopefully we eventually get the data for these missing games and I can do things like compare actual goals scored versus expected goals scored and such, but I am not holding my breath.
No sense in hiding from the fact that Michigan Tech ended Bemidji State’s season in the Mason Cup Championship game the last time these two teams met. To start off this campaign, Michigan Tech has picked up sweeps over Northern Michigan and Ferris State, while getting swept by Minnesota State. They also recorded 4 points against Bowling Green, picking up a victory and a shootout loss. Their .633 point percentage is currently good enough for 4th in the CCHA, one spot above Bemidji State at .533. They will enter this weekend having just split against St. Thomas.
Out of conference, Michigan Tech swept Alaska Fairbanks at home but was then swept by Clarkson at home. After playing Bemidji State this weekend, they will wrap up their non-conference schedule playing in the Great Lakes Invitational and the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup. In the GLI, they will face Western Michigan in the opening round while the Cactus Cup will see them face Umass-Lowell.
Transfer Stiven Sardarian leads the way for the Huskies with 13 points in 14 games and is also leading the team in goals with 7. Last years CCHA Freshman of the Year Isaac Gordon has started the season below pace recording just the 1 goal on the year while also racking up 7 assists. Max Kiskipirtti, a talented Finnish sophomore, leads the team in assists with 8 and is 2nd in points with 11.
Newly drafted Chase Pietila and freshman Rylan Brown lead all MTU defensemen in scoring with 8 points each. Scoring from the blue line dries up a bit after them with the next highest scorer being Matthew Campbell and Nick Williams with 2 points each.
In net, the Huskies will have to rely on graduate senior Derek Mullahy after Max Vayrynen was ruled out for the season with injury. Mullahy is 5-4-1 with a 1.88 goals against average and 2 shutouts. He has also posted a top 20 save percentage nationally with a .926.
For the beavers, we know that they will be without center Reilly Funk, who was the victim of a nasty (but clean) hit on Saturday against Lake Superior State. Junior Adam Flammang also left that game early in the first period, and his status is still questionable.
The loss of Funk raises some questions on what Tom Serratore and staff will do up front. They could slot in Jaksen Panzer as a center on the line sheet and have either him play or Jake McLean on the third line or they could move Kirklan Irey or Eric Martin to that spot, as both have played center before. No matter the case, there will be some significant line juggling from what has been a fairly consistent lineup so far this season.
Maybe the most promising aspect of last weekend was where the 7 goals the Beavers scored came from. On Friday night, we saw depth scoring take over with goals coming from not so familiar places as Austin Jouppi, Jake McLean, and Patrik Satosaari all recorded their first goals of the season. Kirklan Irey would also record a goal and an assist. On Saturday, it was the Beavers top 2 lines who really stepped up, with Jackson Jutting and Irey both recording a goal and an assist and Eric Martin scoring as well. In total, 11 Beaver players recorded a point on the weekend.
Mattias Sholl looked more human against the Lakers than what we have seen over the past month. You can’t say he was to blame for the loss Saturday night as the team in front of him certainly didn’t perform up to expectations and he still made plenty of highlight saves along the way.
The Beavers special teams were certainly an area for concern last weekend. On Friday night, the two goals the Lakers scored both came on the power play while Bemidji State went 0 for 5 with the man advantage, including a full 2 minutes of 5 on 3 to start the 3rd period with a chance to put the game away. On Saturday, both teams would get 1 power play goal (LSSU 1 for 4, BSU 1 for 2), but the Lakers shorthanded goal coming halfway through the first period really seemed to shift the momentum in their favor. BSU also had a shorthanded goal on Friday night.
Overall, if the Beavers want to keep pace in the CCHA they will need to sweep this weekend in some fashion, whether that is with both wins in regulation or overtime or even a shootout. I don’t think you can come away with less than 5 points against this Michigan Tech team and still expect to find yourself in contention come the end of the year.