3 game losing streak

Because I am superstitious, I will now avoid writing anything about standings, RPI, or any upcoming games. I will avoid even thinking about any of those things. Instead, I'm going to write about the team, and where things stand now.

Lets start with the negatives

• Penalty Kill: The penalty kill let up 5 goals over this weekend [including the empty netter]. That is devastating for a low-scoring team. Hard to say about the wacky game in Dartmouth, but no doubt about it, if our penalty kill is tighter, we win that game. Fixing the penalty kill is all about simplifying it. Harvard's 3rd goal, Mugford had the puck on his stick. Instead of trying to get the puck deep, he tried to softly play the puck around Harvard's pointman. True, if successful, he's on a breakaway. But instead, Harvard puts the puck back behind the net, and then passes it into the slot. One-timer goal that Scrivens had no chance at. Simplify the penalty kill. Get that puck out of the zone, worry about scoring 5-on-5.
• Speed: We have a slow team. To be fair, it didn't actually hurt us much this weekend. A slow team compensates with positioning and hockey sense. The players just need to be aware when they are playing a faster team.
• Our bottom two lines: They kill all of our momentum. It was most evident when both Kennedy brothers and Scali were out, but even in Harvard with 2 of those players back, it was still noticeable. When games get tight in the 3rd period (look both games this weekend, both games last weekend), we would consistently have two shifts where we controlled the puck in the offensive zone, generated chances, and kept the opponents on their heels. Unfailingly, these two shifts were followed by two shifts where we were pinned in our own zone, and the opposition was generating all the chances. It was not coincidence. The 7-12 forwards either need to step up their play, or warm the bench when the games get tight. The second option is not so great, it will wear out the top players, but its better than giving up the momentum.
• Goaltending: Scrivens has fallen from his perch atop the universe, which he held for the first few months of the season. I don't know if he just needs to refocus himself, or if he needs a rest, or what. That own-goal...he tries that play every single game. Maybe it was bound to happen eventually, maybe he just got lazy, i don't know. That was not the only time that he missed one that he would have had in late november.

So yes, there is a lot wrong with this team, as evidenced by their record for the past 3 weekends. But strangely, they've been playing (in my opinion) some of their best bits of hockey lately. Not for full 60 minutes (see above comment about the 4th line), but they've shown flashes of brilliance. Here are some of the positives.

• Colin Greening: Every time he steps on the ice, Greening shows everybody why he is the captain of this team. His line scored 4 of the team's 6 goals this weekend. He personally put in 3, and assisted on the other. He plays at 100% intensity, no matter what the scoreboard says, no matter what the game clock says. His play is consistently the best on the team. His late-game penalty at Harvard is the first and only negative thing to say about him in the past few weeks.
• Defense: The team's play is beginning to tighten up in the defensive zone. Its not perfect yet, its not 60 minutes yet. Hell, its probably not even 20 minutes yet. But its getting there. Early in the season, there were a bunch of games where they forced Scrivens to make upwards of 40 saves a night. 26 saves in Hanover, 20 in Boston. This is a good sign. Kreuger is incredibly strong on the puck, M Devin is making incredible progress, B Nash is incredible when he doesn't have the puck or need to skate too fast...its a good start.
  

• New Lines: For the first time in over 2 years, Greening and Nash were split up. The results have been astounding. After scoring 4 goals in 4 games over the course of SLU through Princeton, The team put in 6 over the past 2. The best part about it is the distributed threat. In the past, although the M Kennedy line was always capable of scoring, it generally was not as much of a game-changer as the Nash-Greening line. Now, either Nash or Greening can dominate the play, and the opponents need to find a way to cover both lines. Once Michael Kennedy comes back, I hope he gets put on the "third" line. Opponents will be forced to triple-shift their top defensemen, or else expose their goalie to one of three dangerous lines. and that is really powerful. The "top" line of Nash and Barlow is still trying to find the correct winger to fill in, but still has Barlow's tenacity and Nash's skill (although rarely his effort). Jillson did not impress me much in that spot, but Collins impressed me even less. The"second" line of Gallagher Greening Devin is incredible. Putting 27 and 15 together instantly makes it the fastest line on the team. Devin is not afraid to get himself in front of the net, Greening does everything, and Gallagher is a speed demon (and a faceoff wizard). The third line of P Kennedy, Punches, Mugford...well, it will be dangerous once M Kennedy is back to replace either his brother or Punches. It gives Mugford more ice time though, and I'm all for that. Last line of Scali, Kary, Nicholls...Nicholls has been impressing me recently by trying harder to play hockey instead of just checking. Kary needs to step up his game. Or else put P Kennedy in instead once M is back.
• Control of Play: 42 saves by Harvard Sieve Caroll, while a little generous on the part of the Harvard Stats guy, is still very telling. Go back to the Princeton game, where we outshot them 15-6 in the first. Again, this ties into the first-two-lines thing, but our team is getting better at moving the puck around in the offensive zone and generating chances.

There is a lot wrong with this team right now, but also a lot right. I will stand by my position that the team has played its best hockey of the season the past two weekends. Why the best hockey of the season results in a 1-3-o record, I cannot say. Some better bounces gives us the win in Dartmouth, better penalty killing gives us the win in Harvard, 30 more seconds of effort give us the win vs Princeton. Two of those things are pretty straightforward to work on and to fix. We can only wait and see how the team responds this weekend against the Albany teams.

So excited to see [Mugford, Nicholls, Greening, etc] vs the RPI goon who injured Davenport this year and Scali last year. So long as none of our players get suspended, miss the following weekend. That would be bad.