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3rd-period woes plague Bengals in losses
Team allows seven total power-play goals in pair of weekend games
By Brandon Schlager
On November 14, 2012
The Buffalo State men's hockey team has fallen on hard times
since its season-opening upset of Division I Penn State back on
Oct. 19.
Over the three weeks since, the Bengals are just 1-4-1 and,
following last weekend's games, sit in seventh place in the
nine-team SUNYAC - a far cry from where they envisioned
themselves at the beginning of the season.
The majority of the Bengals' early-season struggles can be
chalked up to the team's poor third-period play, where they've
been outscored 12-2.
"We've struggled putting 60 minutes together for a while now,"
junior captain Mike Zannella said.
"It comes down to a lack of focus. To build focus and consistency
you've got to do the little things right, and we're not there yet."
The Bengals' inability to put the finishing touches on late leads
has cost them two wins so far this season, most recently during
Saturday's 5-4 loss to Potsdam, when they took a 3-1 lead
into the final frame before the Bears exploded for four goals to
complete the come-from-behind win.
The loss to Potsdam came one day after Buffalo State
surrendered another four final-period goals to Plattsburgh. The
Bengals trailed just 2-1 heading into the third period Friday
against the No. 4-ranked team in the nation before the Cardinals
burst the game open.
It's been a continuing trend all season long.
"We've got to stay focused," junior goalie Kevin Carr said. "For
the full 60 minutes, not 40, not 20. Not for the first period and
take the second period off. We need to find a way to put together
a full 60 minutes of Bengal hockey."
Fingers could easily be pointed toward the Bengals' defense,
which has allowed at least four goals in all but two games -
their two wins this season. But the penalty kill has been an even
bigger contributor to their undoing.
In the pair of losses over the weekend, the Bengals allowed
seven goals while shorthanded. They're killing penalties at a
74 percent clip. If you take out their two wins in which the team
is a perfect 15-of-15 killing penalties, that number drops to 61
percent.
At 147 penalty minutes, only two SUNYAC teams have spent
more time in the box.
"We have certain target numbers that we want to be at and we're
nowhere near that right now," Bengals coach Nick Carriere said,
referencing the team's lack of shot blocking, something the team
has generally been successful at over the year, as an area of
concern.
That, he added, is a fix as simple as players avoiding the penalty
box.
"Our special teams has been performing way below par, which is
really just a matter of us staying out of the penalty box," Carriere
said. "In order to see an improvement we have to start taking
away some things of value to the guys. That starts with removing
playing time for guys that continue to take extra penalties."
On the unsurprisingly dim bright side to the Bengals' poor start,
they do have two players who rank in the top five in SUNYAC
scoring. Sophomore forward Nick Melligan is fourth with 10
points (4-6) while Zannella is right behind in fifth with nine (7-2).
Zannella's seven goals are second in the conference.
If the Bengals are searching for a flame, they may have
stumbled across a spark after a special visit following Tuesday's
practice.
Larry Carriere, a former defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres and
father of the Bengals' coach, dropped in unannounced for a chat
with the players. With nearly a decade of experience manning
an NHL blueline, the current assistant general manager of the
Montreal Canadiens is pretty well qualified to help the Bengals
mend their defensive woes.
"It was pretty awesome to hear what he had to say," Carr said.
Still, it's going to be a tough road ahead for the Bengals if they
want to right the ship soon. Now three games into their season-
long 11-game road trip, the team heads to Oswego Friday to
take on the top team in Division III before a Saturday matchup
against an underachieving Cortland team.
"We're a work in progress," Carriere said. "We're trying to take
a few steps back here to get to where we need to be to start
winning some games like we planned."
Brandon Schlager can be reached by email at
schlager.record@live.
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