Seawolves 5 - Bulldogs 4

I wrote down comments after each period so I'll just go with that ...

After the 1st Period:
I thought UAA was lucky to get out of the 1st period down just one goal. Kevin scored a beauty high on Stalock's glove side (totally invalidating what I said yesterday about a shot high to his glove being a gift save) after a sweet takeaway at the Bulldog blueline. The flow of the game was totally in UMD's favor. Only briefly did UAA look like they weren't chasing the Bulldogs around the ice. My stated hopes that 4-on-4 play might be important for UAA also turned out badly as 4-on-4 UMD tied the game. The Seawolves really need to get their feet under them or they could get run outta the building. There was zero real pressure offensively by the Seawolves other than a lucky break that lead to a couple of shorthanded chances. They could easily be 3-0 behind.

After the 2nd Period:
Wow is my first impression for the 2nd period. Much of it was pretty similar to the 1st and I wouldn't have been surprised if 3-1 had been the score at the end of the 2nd. But omg ... the Seawolves were very very opportunistic on their 2nd goal. They hadn't had many chances and when they finally did August Aiken put his 2nd of the season behind Stalock. They'd killed a couple of penalties and though they weren't really chasing the Bulldogs around I didn't think they were looking particularly sharp. After the 2nd goal there was an incredible change in momentum. Clark, Crowder and Lunden came out and absolutely controlled play in the UMD end. They were getting chances and the shift was so long that everyone's legs were dragging. Kevin Clark had a chance to go off but stayed with the puck, getting it in deep. When Portwood and Haddad joined him they managed to get the puck in front of the net and with Stalock scrambling Clarkie tied the game; good choice by him in not changing out. I'm still "wow". UAA outplayed UMD for a total of 3 minutes so far in this game. 3-3 is a good position to be in. I know the Seawolves know how to play with a tight score going into the 3rd. This should be an interesting 3rd period.

Post Game Thoughts:
Still wow ... no please, allow me to correct that .... "WOW". Unreal. Two sweet power play goals from Josh Lunden in the first part of the period did the trick tonight. The Seawolves were outplayed in all three periods. Coming out with the win is really nice. The Seawolves did a good job in their own zone blocking shots and clogging passing lanes even though UMD had a lot of territorial advantage. I think it seemed to be another overall good team effort. Everyone seemed to contribute something positive at one time or another and the few mistakes made were covered by teammates or squandered by UMD. I thought it was a good game overall by both teams.

Credit on the night to the UAA penalty kill. The team may not have played its best 5-on-5 game of the year but they were sharp on special teams. Clark, Crowder and Lunden made a statement tonight about playing together ... whether they wanted to or not. How can they not keep playing together? Nick Haddad was visible tonight often and it always seemed to be with him charging hard into the UMD zone. He and Jade Portwood contributed nicely on Clark's first goal. Most of the pats on the back though should go to everyone who did their job backchecking. And that was everyone in a green sweater tonight.

My B2 was a bit jumpy at times so it was hard to get a sense of some aspects of the play. I must say that fans standing in front of the camera didn't make me a happy camper the last 2 minutes of the game. The referees stayed mostly out of the game. Their radio guys gave Josh Lunden the first star nod but I'd go with Clark. It was his invitation to Stalock to slash him that put UAA on the Power Play for Josh's go ahead goal. Josh Meyers apparently through some sort of hissy fit at the end. Smart money would bet that Kevin had something to do with that as well.

I watched the Gopher game before the UAA game came on. How sweet was it that 3 minutes into the game after the Gophers scored their 1st goal that Doug and Rug were all but proclaiming the game as over only to see MTU eventually build a 4-1 lead? It was very sweet. MTU winning 6-5 in OT. Bonus.

We now know that UAA will be going to DU for the playoffs since North Dakota beat Wisconsin tonight. Tonight's win is potentially a big one for the Seawolves. If they can feed off the energy of this win (combined with last weekends sweep) and get more points tomorrow night they can go on the road in the playoffs with a better chance for a big upset.