SLU - Cornell Post Game

It seems that the momentum turned when Gallagher failed to convert on the penalty shot and then letting SLU score shortly thereafter.

From my stop and go video it was hard to get a good feel for the game, but up until the last 7 minutes or so, it seemed like we did a good job keeping SLU from getting a flow in our zone. Unfortunately, our PP failed us yet again, and we did not get the timely goal (ala Greening's first goal last night, less than 2 minutes after Kennedy's goal).

Here's hoping for a good road trip to the capital region next weekend.

In the battle between the Saints and Ari's cries of "Jesus Christ," St. Lawrence won.

The bright spot for Cornell was the first period. Maybe Joe motivated them. We came out flying and had a 1-0 lead to show for it at the end of the period. Greening kept up his outstanding play from last night.

Right after Slut killed our penalty to begin the 2nd, things went downhill. Our guys started losing the physical battles along the boards and the puck spent a lot of time in our zone. The Gallagher penalty shot was our opportunity to relieve some pressure. He made a great move to cross over, but COULD NOT LIFT THE PUCK. Turning point in the game right there.

Romano was silent. Scali, who usually makes some noise with his in-your-face kind of play, was also quiet. Then again, everyone was quiet in the last two periods except the guy in B with the tremendous "Hey Petizian" sequence when it was dead silent.

I'll leave the special teams issues for others to talk about, but please get McCutcheon off the PP.

This was a Golden Knight to make up some ground in the standings with Clarkson and Q losing and an opportunity to beat SLU. The way we played in the 1st, I thought we were going to keep the momentum going from the last two games. Disappointing...

Cornell was definitely lacking something they had during the two games prior to tonight. I don't know whether it is the match up against SLU or what, but Cornell was also never in a flow on offense.

They also played a bit indecisive tonight. The last few games they looked confident and looked like they knew where they were going with the puck. Tonight they appear to just throw it around at times, and looked very sloppy clearing from the defensive zone. A couple failed clears ended up in two SLU goals no less.

Worst of all is special teams bites us in the ass again. A PPG winner for SLU and 0-7 on the PP for Cornell. If they want to make a playoff run they are going to have to make teams pay for taking penalties and making mistakes. What a difference it would make if we could go 1-5 on the PP instead of 0-5, because you are almost always going to have 5 PPs a game.

They blew a huge opportunity tonight to really get things going. They blew a HUGE opportunity. They played the first period exactly the way they needed to and exactly the way they played last night. They were all over slut and get another goal and they fold the tent and go home. This is a team who got blown out last night and were tired on the road and Cornell let them hang around. The missed penalty shot by Gallagher was the turning point in the game and Slut scored in the next minute. I don't know how Gallagher didn't score but he had the goalie beaten and just put it into him. After that, Cornell was not the same and neither was slut.

The powerplay is the biggest embarrassment I have ever seen at any level. How McCuthceon and Bitz come over the boards for every single powerplay is beyond me. Neither do a thing out there. McCutcheon doesn't move anywhere and just puts every shot into a PKer or 30 feet wide. It is truly remarkable.

calgARI '07
McCutcheon doesn't move anywhere and just puts every shot into a PKer or 30 feet wide.

Or 10 feet high.

ebilmes

This was a Golden Knight to make up some ground in the standings with Clarkson and Q losing

Arthur reported the scores wrong...Clarkson won 2-1 at Colgate.

I have to disagree with the earlier comments, at least to some extent. While I agree that we didn't play as well as last night, I thought we still looked decent; definitely better than we've looked for most of the season.

My biggest complaint about the game was the ridiculous call that the refs missed with about 30 seconds left. One of the SLU(T) players jumped on one of our guys (sorry, didn't pay attention to who), and was literally hanging onto him piggyback style by the neck with one arm while using his other arm to punch the guy in the face. Now, I realize that refs try not to call much when it gets down to the end, but I thought that was pretty ridiculous, especially since a stop and loss of a SLU(T) player at that point could have made a huge difference and sent us into overtime.

Did anyone else see all of this or am I crazy?

sah67
Arthur reported the scores wrong...Clarkson won 2-1 at Colgate.

"Oh."

ebilmes
In the battle between the Saints and Ari's cries of "Jesus Christ," St. Lawrence won.



Romano was silent. Scali, who usually makes some noise with his in-your-face kind of play, was also quiet.

I'll leave the special teams issues for others to talk about, but please get McCutcheon off the PP.

I actually was happy to see Scali back in the lineup, and thought he played fairly aggressively, and not quiet at all. Definitely not as in-your-face as he usually is, but I think he belongs in the line-up more often.

Get Bitz off the PP too.

And when was the last time Topher took a shot, pp or not?

sah67

ebilmes
In the battle between the Saints and Ari's cries of "Jesus Christ," St. Lawrence won.



Romano was silent. Scali, who usually makes some noise with his in-your-face kind of play, was also quiet.

I'll leave the special teams issues for others to talk about, but please get McCutcheon off the PP.

I actually was happy to see Scali back in the lineup, and thought he played fairly aggressively, and not quiet at all. Definitely not as in-your-face as he usually is, but I think he belongs in the line-up more often.

Get Bitz off the PP too.

And when was the last time Topher took a shot, pp or not?

Hell, I'd just like to see Scott have the puck on the powerplay. McCutcheon and Bitz have it the entire time.

I also wonder about Scott. His whole line has not stood out as any kind of a threat to score in a long time, and particularly Scott's play has been nondescript. He's never been a shooter, but he hasn't even been an effective setup man (at least lately--I know he's still leading in points). The only consistent offense seems to be from the likes of Greening (who was on another planet this weekend--wow!), Kennedy, and Carefoot.
They missed an opportunity tonight, but all is not lost.

oceanst41
Cornell is looking real sloppy in their own end

I totally agree with this comment from the game thread. And I have to disagree with saying that we played a good first period. We came out sloppy and stayed that way. I think the difference between periods was that in the first we were defensively sloppy, but were working in the offensive zone. In the last two periods we stopped working on offense, and lost because we continued to be horrible defensively.


On the penalty shot, yes he made great moves, but was in too close to easily lift it. One step back and he had it.

All in all, a bad game. I don't know why we can't be more consistent on defense. Yes our PP sucks, but they are doing a lot more grinding on offense, and a lot more hitting. Tighten up the defense, making them work when they get the puck and we have a team that looks more like past ones. If SLU had to work in both ends they would get tired and we could have the third period. As it was, we gave them easy ops to try and score.

Well, we can still finish 4^th, maybe play 'gate at home and have a chance to get to Albany. But to answer a prior post, don't plan on NCAA's without winning the ECAC's.

I actually didn't think they played terrible defense. The difference in the game was the aggressive forecheck from St. Lawrence. Cornell dealt with it reasonably well in the first period, but after that they had a lot of trouble getting out of their own zone. They were unable to generate steady pressure and cycling in the offensive zone, and had they been able to, this game would have been over quickly. They have a lot of trouble with this team. Give credit to St. Lawrence for being the more aggressive team tonight, but Cornell should have won this game.

Honestly, I think St. Lawrence just played a fantastic game. They're the fastest team I've seen this year, by far. We played well, for the most part. The PK was good, even if they let in the game winner. The PP mostly sucked, but we did get some good chances. Petizian played extremely well.

I would also add that Slut was the most annoying effective team i have seen this season in terms of pinching and holding the blue line offensively. It was tough to clear the zone tonight. They are a good team. I think we played well and could have won it but we didn't. I would fancy our chances in a rematch if both teams played a similar quality game it just would be nice to put together a 4 pt weekend again.

Dafatone
Honestly, I think St. Lawrence just played a fantastic game. They're the fastest team I've seen this year, by far. We played well, for the most part. The PK was good, even if they let in the game winner. The PP mostly sucked, but we did get some good chances. Petizian played extremely well.

Excellent big picture summary! Not for nothing, but I believe we played a very good game, consistent with the effort and heart displayed in the last two games. Game control see-sawed between the teams, and the game could have gone either way. Two very even teams, perhaps with Slut having the age/experience edge?

We also played a very inspired Slut team. It was clear from the beginning they had no intention of losing this game. They displayed a very aggressive forecheck (at times), which we handled well overall. They really turned up the intensity at times and played like a true league leader. You have to give them credit, and give Cornell credit for staying with them all the way.

We missed a couple of legitimate scoring opportunities, the Gallagher penalty shot being the biggest. As for a turning point...I doubt it. It might have meant the win (or tie), but I didn't see it as a momentum changer. At the end, Slut turned it up when they needed to, a characteristic displayed by CU teams of the past several years.

Our defense was generally solid, although I can recall a couple of opportunities where Slut couldn't capitalize. Holding the #2 scoring team in the league to 2 goals is pretty good. Kudos to McLeod who played well. I look forward to having Seminoff back. Any word on him?

Scrivens played his best game so far. Hopefully he's gaining altitude on the learning curve.

Greening played with a Hornby intensity. He was everywhere, skating hard and hitting anyone in a red helmet!

Scott to all those wondering where Topher is, he too played a solid game. Last I checked, he was still leading the team in points...

While the power play can't seem to score in a whorehouse with a fist full of $50's (or with a 2-man advantage), they did show improvement in puck control and generating shots. I agree with the overall critique of familiarity in strategy. One thing I noticed, our shooters seem to have their heads down on the slappers, allowing for a blocked shot. Keep your head up move around the Pk'er as he goes sliding by you!!

At least the team is showing some spark again. They skated head-to-head with a league leader, and the game could have gone either way - a vast improvement over early January! This may or may not be our year, but it's clear the impact the frosh and sophomore class will have over the next couple of years.

ps: they better sweep the doormats next weekend!

Karlmoose
I actually didn't think they played terrible defense.

Not overall, but there were way too many spectacular "oops" plays. One SLU goal was the direct result of a blind clear, several of the bad powerplay sequences were due to giveaways on the breakout.

They played poorly in the D zone, tonight. Up again, down again. It is what it is. I hope they get hot at just the right moment.

Townie

Dafatone
ps: they better sweep the doormats next weekend!

The Onion/RIP trip will be telling. Is there real parity in the league or not? These two teams will be fighting for their reputations after having no point weekends at Hanover and that other place out east.

I find it telling that Cornell, without their best or at least 2nd best defensement, with a guy playing significant minutes who has never played defense and was cut from the team twice and with a freshmen goalie who was not supposed to be the #1 gave up 3 goals for the weekend. I think that is a HUGE positive from the weekend.

The power play, nothing to be said that has not been already.

Scrivens is playing really well, as is most if not all of the new players.

I keep coming back to the fact that the lineup from Wisconsin and the lineup from last night has 8 differenet skaters and a differnt goalie and they are 4th in the ECAC and 2nd in the Ivies with a game in hand. In addition the players that are playing the best (with the exception of Carefoot) are all young. That team out East would love to trade places with us...